


The Spirit of the Hero

by aluminumoxynitride



Category: The Legend of Zelda & Related Fandoms
Genre: "Modern" Hyrule, Gen, basically what if we had a Zelda game that had 21st-century level tech, come for the swordfighting action and stay for Zelda and Link awkwardly crushing on each other?, i am new at this and not quite sure how to tag things
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-09-11
Updated: 2017-08-02
Packaged: 2018-04-20 05:13:52
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 19
Words: 69,449
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4774946
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/aluminumoxynitride/pseuds/aluminumoxynitride
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Hundreds of years after Twilight Princess, in a Hyrule of skyscrapers, trains, and highways, the desperate wars fought over the Triforce are just legends slowly fading from memory.  So Link's recurring nightmare is obviously nothing more than a dream, obviously nothing more than a product of his stress over schoolwork and lack of sleep, but if it isn't...</p>
<p>Something is coming.</p>
<p>Something bad.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Prologue

There is an old kingdom called Hyrule, whose stories and legends have lived on for centuries.  
  
It began with Din, Nayru, and Farore, the three golden goddesses, who created all from emptiness and chaos. They fashioned the earth, oceans, skies, and creatures to live there. They created a great power too, as a gift to humanity: three golden triangles, one from each goddess. Separately they would grant their wielder certain powers; united they would grant the wish of any person, no matter how great or impossible. It was called the Triforce, and the humans guarded it zealously, for where there is power, there are those who wish to abuse it.  
  
Its greatest protectors were the royal family of Hyrule, who were said to have divine blood in their veins. The sacred powers their ancestry granted them kept the Triforce safe and their kingdom whole for centuries beyond count. And when their magic was not enough, the goddesses would send them a hero.  
  
Time and time again a great evil, hatred of light and peace personified, would arise in Hyrule, seeking the Triforce to further its own ambition and greed. Always a boy clothed in green, a child of destiny, would appear to aid the royal family and strike it down. The blood of the goddess, the spirit of the hero, and the force of hatred were locked in an eternal cycle of war. In one of these battles, the Triforce was split--the Triforce of Power fell into the hands of evil, the Triforce of Wisdom remained with the royal family, and the Triforce of Courage was given to the hero, passed down as he was reborn again and again. Even after this, through the hero’s valiant efforts, good would always triumph. And so the land remained untouched by evil, and prospered.  
  
As the years passed, roads snaked out across the kingdom, and buildings stretched towards the sky. Lights shone from the cities all through the night. Borders and rulers shifted and changed.  
  
And the Triforce, the hero, and the evil faded into legend...

  
\---  
  


_Link saw Hyrule rushing away from him._  
  
_He gasped and looked around wildly. He was in a glass elevator, rising up a great building. To one side he saw the flashing dark-then-light pattern of the floors passing him, and to the other was the outdoors. Link realized immediately that something was wrong. He could see the glow of fires, and the wall around Castle Town was half-demolished._  
  
_The elevator suddenly slowed and Link jerked around, putting his hand on his sword. He could now make out what was on each floor. He saw monsters throwing themselves at the doors, trying to get at him. The glass began to crack and Link backed away, drawing his sword and pulling a shield off his back. He saw a lanky blond girl who looked straight into his eyes and smiled as she strung her bow with a glowing arrow, then whirled to loose it at a monster. He saw a fairy, and he thought he could hear it call his name--_  
  
_Something green and scaly struck one last blow, and the doors shattered inward. The monsters flung themselves at him, but the elevator pulled up and away before they could get inside._  
  
_And then it stopped._  
  
_This floor was dark and silent. Link stepped out over the broken glass and into the hallway, walking forward until he reached an open door. Behind it was a shadowy office, the furniture softly gleaming from the hallway light. He peered into the room, but it was hard to make anything out--_  
  
_A large, dark figure stood from behind the desk. It began walking towards the door, raising scowling yellow eyes. Link gasped and doubled his grip on his sword, and it sprung towards him, raising a long, gleaming blade._  
  
_Link desperately rammed his shield up, and as the clang was still vibrating in the air he shifted and swung his sword--_  
  
He screamed and woke, the bright lights of the classroom stinging his eyes.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> All right, here we go.
> 
> Basically one day I wondered what sort of essays Hyrulean students would write in history class, which turned into wondering what a Zelda game would be like in a modern Hyrule, which turned into this. I think the idea has been eating at me for over a year now, and I finally just decided to start writing it down, and then decided I may as well post it for your reading pleasure. Chapter 1 will be posted in a couple days and then after that will update weekly, as long as my coursework allows.
> 
> Anyway, thank you for reading!


	2. The Story Begins

Link screamed and woke, the bright lights of the classroom stinging his eyes. Everyone was staring at him.

“Are you o--” a Zora girl next to him began, but was interrupted by the teacher.

“Link? Is there a specific reason you are disrupting my class?”

Link stared at his desk, trying to keep his hands from shaking. The dread that always came with the nightmare was still clinging to him.  
“Link?”

Their teacher glared down at Link through his glasses; Link managed to get a grip on himself and meet his eyes. Finally the man turned back to the board.

“Now, if I _may,_ ” he said, “We were talking about the political situation in the Era of Twilight, and Ganondorf’s motivations to conquer Hyrule…”

Link sighed and pulled his knit hat over his eyes in a half-hearted effort to hide in embarrassment. Boring, endless history class...no wonder he’d fallen asleep. He hid his still-trembling hands under his desk.

“For your essay due at the end of next week, you will need to take a side on this issue. What could have led Ganondorf to cover Hyrule in Twilight? Anyone?”

Link tried to look as small as possible. Luckily, a girl near the front raised her hand.

“He could have wanted revenge for the Sages imprisoning him in the Twilight Realm for hundreds of years.”

Another student chimed in. “But you’re assuming it was the same Ganondorf as the one that was sealed away. Since it was hundreds of years, it’s most likely a descendant who wanted revenge for his great-great-whatever. Or he had another motive. Maybe he was just greedy.”

“So you don’t think it was the Triforce of Power keeping him alive, like classical histories say?”

“I’m just trying to think realistically here. Even if the Triforce exists, how could it make someone immortal? The royal family still supposedly has their piece, and they can definitely die.”

The girl sighed. “Because the Triforce of Power gives you physical _power_. The royal family’s piece would give them _wisdom_.”

Their teacher interrupted. “Very good. As you two have noticed, this essay will require you to take a stand on larger issues throughout Hyrulean history. Is the Triforce real? If it is, what is the extent of its power? Is every crisis in Hyrule playing out of the same eternal battle for the Triforce, or is that simply us forcing historical events into the pattern of the legends that we recognize?

“The works of historical revisionists that we have read in class will help you greatly in this. So--” he smiled wryly--”If you haven’t yet read the excerpt from A _Re-Examining of Middle Hyrulean History_ that I passed out last week, now would be a good time to do so. I expect you all to source at least two separate classical historians and two revisionists in your essays.”

He paused, and glanced at the clock on the wall. “Well, class is over, so I’ll leave you all to stew over that until tomorrow.” He gave Link a very pointed look. “ _Wide awake_ , if you please.”

Link’s face burned as he packed up his bag.

“Oh--I’ve been told by the principal to remind you all to be careful as you head home. Don’t walk by yourselves, and make sure you get home before dark. It’s just better to stay safe. See you all tomorrow, then.”

A Goron at the desk next to him slung his own bag over his shoulder and leaned close to Link. “You okay, man?”

Link nodded, but he still felt shaky.

“Did you have that dream again?”

“Yeah.”

“How many times this week has that been, brother? Like ten?”

Link exhaled slowly, putting his history textbook in his bag. “Yeah. I think every single time I’ve fallen asleep since the start of the week. And it’s always the exact same dream.” He yanked off his hat, swept dark curly hair out of his eyes, and put it back on.

A Zora girl chimed in. “Link’s still having that nightmare?”

“Not so loud, Ania,” mumbled Link. “It’s weird.”

The Goron shrugged. “A couple nights ago I had a dream I our principal turned into a Cucco, brother, dreaming about monsters and swords is not that weird.”

The three of them left the classroom. Link mumbled a sheepish apology towards their teacher as he passed his desk, then looked back at his friends.

“No, but...the same dream every time. That isn’t something that just happens.”

“So then you think the dream’s trying to tell you something?” Asked Ania, scratching her head with a blue, fin-lined arm.

Link shrugged. “I mean, how could it?”

The Goron nodded vigorously. “It is impossible. Link just needs to eat less of his crazy flavorful Hylian food, and try some of my lunch before he decides to nap during class.”

“Doman, for the last time, I can’t eat rocks,” Link laughed. It was an old joke between them, and the banter siphoned off some of the dread.

“You’ve never even tried them!”

“And you’ve never tried, like, grilled cheese, so you’re one to talk.”

“That stuff’s made from _wheat_ , and _cow juice_! I’m not eating something that used to be alive, that is gross.”

Ania jabbed Doman’s arm. “Hey. You two. I have an hour before debate practice. Let’s take this outside, it’s too nice a day not to.”

“We gotta watch our backs, though!” Doman said. “Good thing we’re going out together and not by ourselves.”

“That isn’t really something to joke about, you know. We really do need to be careful.”

Doman rolled his eyes. “Most of the victims have been uptown, and there’s been nothing anywhere near our neighborhood.”

“The police know nothing, though. Not a suspect, not a motive, not even what’s wrong with the victims! How can you know what they’re going to do next? I’d rather not end up in a coma, all things being equal.”

Link guessed he should be more worried about his safety and that of his friends, but...this dream. He couldn’t stop thinking about it. It always felt vivid in a way that his usual dreams did not, and the way it just kept repeating, the same exact dream each time, was just unnatural. He wanted to discard all of it and just resign himself to his fate of having the same dream over and over again for the rest of his life. The same nightmare. But waking always left him sick with horror and foreboding, stuck with the unshakable feeling that something was _coming_ , no matter how many times he told himself that it was all in his head.

He almost wouldn’t mind becoming one of the victims himself, unconscious for days and days after any signs of a struggle on his body had healed, if it meant a dreamless sleep at last.

They stopped by their grade’s lockers to switch books around and grab sweatshirts and snacks and things. “We’ve got trig homework tonight, right?” Doman asked.

“Yeah, more chapter six problems. Thanks for reminding me.” Ania pulled a textbook out of her locker and packed it. “Oh, Link, can I get my guitar?”

Link started. “Wha? Oh. Yes.” He opened his locker and took out a large case. “Sorry. Thanks for letting me borrow it.”

The Zora girl grinned as she took her instrument back. “No problem, how’s it coming along?”

“I can just about pluck out a couple of nursery tunes,” he laughed. “My fingers have been killing me.”

Doman closed his own locker. “That’s why you need Goron skin, brother. Guitar strings can’t do much to rock.”

Ania rolled her eyes. “Very useful advice. But the calluses will come in soon, Link, don’t worry. Just keep practicing! Maybe you should get your own guitar soon.”

Link zipped his bag and slung it on his back. “Yeah, one day.”

They all walked through the double doors at the front of the school and sat down on the steps. Link looked out over Castle Town, breathing in the spring air. This was a newer neighborhood on the outskirts of the city, and if you ignored the skyscrapers on the horizon then you could forget that you were standing in the largest city in Hyrule. It really was a jumble of a skyline, a mix of the low tiled roofs of the suburbs, giant gleaming steel-and-glass towers, and the turrets of the ancient Hyrule Castle. Link could even make out the train as it crossed the bridge that bisected the main city. But once he turned around, northern Castle Town looked the very picture of an idyllic countryside village.

Ania had taken a bottle of water out of her backpack, and now she sighed as she poured it over her head. Zoras could live outside of water, but it got uncomfortable if you were dry for too long. It was only the canals and underwater houses of the Zora neighborhoods that made it worth it for them to live in Castle Town. “I’ll be totally honest here,” she said, “I just want to get this essay over with.”

“Same,” said Doman. “But right when we hand it in, we will need to start picking our topics for our final paper. Ugh.”

Ania looked sheepish. “I’ve already picked mine. I’m writing about King Zora XVI’s reign.”

Link nodded. “So the Crisis of the Hero of Time?”

“Mostly about reparations between the Zora and the Gerudo afterwards. You know how the story goes, that Ganondorf put a curse on the Zora’s patron deity, Lord Jabu-Jabu, before he was arrested. Whatever it really was, all historians agree the crisis really damaged Zora-Gerudo relations, and that afterwards the king made a huge effort to meet with Nabooru, the new leader of the Gerudo, and patch things up.”

“I was thinking The Second War of the Four Sword,” said Doman. “I might change my mind when we actually cover it in class, though. I also might do when Hyrule became a constitutional monarchy.”

“Ugh, I can’t think about our final paper, I’m too busy stressing about this one!” Ania threw her arms up in frustration. “Speaking of, how are you guys for sources?” she asked. “I still haven’t picked my classical ones.”

“I’ve got my classicals and I’m using _A Re-Examining of Middle Hyrulean History_ ,” said Doman. “Not the chapter he gave us, the chapter on the War of Twilight. But I need one more revisionist.”

“Uh,” said Link.

His friends laughed.

“Link, have you even picked your general argument yet? What do you think, are the old magics for real?”

He threw up his arms. “How am I supposed to know? How do you even define what ‘old magic’ is? Like, magic’s always been there. I don’t get why anyone would say that we only really figured it out when we invented the radio or artificial lighting or whatever. There are way too many mentions of people using magic in old histories and legends for that.”

“But the magic in the legends is nothing like the magic we use now,” said Doman. “No one lately has made a musical instrument that can take you back through time. Or turned into a wolf.”

“And _that_ is why I have no idea what to think!”

Ania drummed her fingers thoughtfully on the banister. “I don’t remember looking through any sources that address that. I haven’t found anyone who’s in the middle of the road--either the old magic was completely real, or it was all made up and no one has ever used magic before 200 years ago. I bet you could find something on it with a little effort, though. I was gonna go to the Old Castle Town Ruins Visitor’s Center later today. They have a good library and I was hoping I could find some stuff. You guys wanna come along?”

“You really should go, Link,” Doman admonished. “You need to get started on this. You have to start caring about class _sometime_.”

Link sighed. “I guess.”

“Great!” said Ania. “You know where it is, right? If you take the train to the edge of the city and then head straight down the road outside the walls, you’ll see it. Got it?”

He nodded.

“I obviously can’t leave until debate practice is over, but you and Doman can go ahead now if you’d like. I’ll meet you there when I’m done. Sound good?”

Doman grinned and clapped a heavy hand on Link’s shoulder. “You and me, brother! It’ll be fun, we can explore around the ruins a bit before we bury ourselves in books. We’ll see you later, Ania!”

As the Zora girl walked back in the building, Doman turned back to Link. “I want to drop the rest of my books at home before I go to the Ruins, if that’s all right.”

That sounded like a good idea to Link as well. “So, you’re not gonna listen to Ania’s safety advice?”

Doman laughed. “They’ve attacked crowds before and no offense, Link, you don’t look that threatening. Whatever happens will happen whether you are with me or not.”

“Well, Ania wouldn’t yell at us later if I were there,” Link said as he stood and slung his backpack over one shoulder.

“That is a risk we will just have to take,” his friend said, mock solemn. “I shouldn’t be long, you can just go ahead without me.”

“I’m gonna drop my bag at my own place.”

Doman nodded. “Then we won’t be floundering by ourselves for too long until Ania gets there. Perfect. See you soon!”

Link shifted his bag on his shoulders as he watched Doman go. Man, this thing was heavy.

The thought of having to begin his essay in earnest had been dragging on his mood, but once the sunshine hit his face Link found himself forgetting all about it. _The Ruins can wait a bit, can’t they?_

He took his time walking home, climbing over rocks and chasing insects. He saw one of his neighbors and talked for a bit about increased tensions in the Gerudo Desert; the tribe had recently done away with their monarchy, and the transition was not going as smoothly as had been hoped. He stopped by the local convenience store and chatted with the owner, who shared a sample of a new health potion that had just come in. He checked the nearest streetside magiscreen for messages, and found one from Doman telling him he’d just left his house, and reminding him he could check the locations of the train stop and the Visitor Center on the screen’s map. Finally he turned into the driveway of the little one-floor brick house that was home.

He dumped his bag on the doormat and pulled out his math and magical sciences textbooks. He definitely didn’t need those while researching his paper. Just a notebook and pen would do. He grabbed five rupees out of the chest by his bed in case he wanted to buy a snack or something, glanced in the mirror and straightened the white long-sleeved undershirt he wore under his tee, and left again.

The train was waiting at the corner stop. He boarded, swiped his card, and sat down.

As the city sped by, Link settled back on his cushioned seat and looked at the ceiling, his hat sliding down and leaving a bright green veil over his vision. It felt good to sit down after such a long day at school. It was nice to relax...he felt like he could sit here forever, listening to the rhythmic clatter of the train, feeling the warm lights on his face...he felt his eyes closing...

 _No!_ He jerked upright in alarm, startling several passengers. How could he still be so tired? It seemed like he now fell asleep whenever he sat still for even a moment. Maybe it was that the nightmare always left him drained and unrested. It was probably that.

But it almost seemed like the dream _wanted_ to be heard. Like his mind was dragging him to sleep again and again until he finally listened to the warning he was being given.

Link shook his head. He had to get this stupid nightmare out of his brain. This was all in his head and thinking otherwise wasn’t going to do him any good. He forced himself to think about school, about learning guitar, about _anything_ else as the train made its way across Castle Town.

Finally it reached its last stop, on the edge of town. There were only a few passengers left on the train. None of them seemed as interested in history as Link; they all disappeared into the shops and crowds nearby the train station, leaving him to exit the city alone.

Well, it wasn’t quite out of the city; the vestiges of Old Castle Town that were scattered to the west of the new city were still patrolled by Hyrulean police. It was safe to walk around, as long as you didn’t stray beyond the half-crumbled wall of the old city, where monsters roamed. As the Visitor’s Center was the main tourist attraction, a paved path had been laid down straight to it; Link walked along this, now eager to just get there and get the homework over with.

He rounded the corner and stopped short.

The site was completely silent and empty. For a moment he thought it must be closed even though the place was supposed to be open until sunset, but the large wooden gates were open, even if the security guard wasn’t there.

Link edged inside cautiously, feeling as if he were trespassing but knowing he wasn’t. He thought about calling out, but was too nervous to speak. Something just...wasn’t right.

The large courtyard that made up the entryway was deserted, the ground scuffed, a bench upturned. He could see a broken pane of glass in the door of the Visitor’s Center across the way.

He looked around him nervously as he crossed the yard. He probably shouldn’t be in here, it probably wasn’t safe--

He flinched and spun around as he noticed something huddled on the floor. He stood there frozen for a moment, before he realized it wasn’t moving. He dug his nails into his palms, somehow more afraid than before.

It was a man, slumped on the ground. His eyes were closed, he was still breathing, but no amount of calling or shaking from Link could wake him. Link had known it wouldn’t.

He straightened up, rubbing sweaty palms on his jeans. He had to get to a magiscreen and call the police. There had to be one in the park, but he had no idea where. The closest one besides that was back in the city proper. Was it worth it to go all the way back there? The people who had done this could still be here. It was important he do something quick.

Who knew how long he could wander around in here, looking for a screen. He should head back. Yeah, he definitely should head back.

He muffled the little internal voice reminding him that Doman had left for the park before him, and so was probably in here somewhere. Looking for him wouldn’t do anything, no matter how much he wanted it to. Getting help would.

Link looked around nervously, making sure the courtyard really was deserted, and turned to leave--

Something flashed in the corner of his eye, and he nearly jumped out of his skin. He twisted back around to see a golden tail vanishing around a corner in the distance, heading deeper into the park. It looked like...a dog? Nothing to worry about. He slowly let out his breath.

After he called the police he would message Doman and see if somehow he had escaped all of this. Maybe he had gotten distracted on the way here. _Please, let him have gotten distracted on the way here…_

He took a slow step backwards, watching for any other signs of movement, listening closely...and his breath hitched as he heard clicking footsteps.

Something big and furred trotted back around the corner, and growled at Link. It was the dog from earlier--no, definitely not a dog, he realized. It was a wolf, gold fur shining as if from within, and red eyes staring straight into his.

He backed up, heart pounding. He didn’t even know how to begin figuring out what was going on. It was an animal who had done all of this? But that wasn’t even possible. Or the wolf had gotten in here on its own? Why was it _glowing?_ Was it just a trick of the light? Why didn’t it just pounce and get it over with?

As it continued to hold his gaze, unmoving, Link realized its growl hadn’t been vicious or angry. It was...impatient, almost. Insistent. It...wanted something?  
He frowned and took a cautious half-step forward, and the wolf nodded, turned, and ran off once more.

Without giving himself time to reconsider, Link followed.

The wolf wove between crumbling buildings so quickly he could hardly keep track of where they were going. He had no idea how he was going to find his way back, but it was too late to worry about that now.

Stricken bodies lined the paths. Link felt his hands clenching into fists as he looked at them. Was this the biggest attack yet? He had to have seen at least a dozen victims so far. How long would this keep happening?

How could someone do this?

Link realized suddenly that more than being scared or worried or confused, he was angry.

The wolf sped up even more. Link was practically sprinting after it, grateful that he had worn athletic shoes that day. He had to know where it was leading him. He had to know _what in Hyrule was going on._

It scrambled up a toppled pillar and lept onto the roof of a nearby building. Link had no time to hesitate; he stepped up onto the rounded stone and launched himself into the air. He grabbed the edge and pulled himself up, breathing heavily.

The wolf jumped across several more rooftops. Link was pretty sure they were outside the park now. Nothing looked remotely familiar, and the buildings were in worse shape than anything he had seen. At points they were practically running on walltops.

Finally it used a half-collapsed wall as a stepping stone to the floor, and Link found himself on solid ground once again. They were definitely out of the park. Tarps and wheelbarrows--signs of archaeological research--replaced cobbled paths, lightposts, and garbage cans. The dead silence told Link that whatever had happened in the site proper had also taken place here. And...yes, he could see collapsed bodies on the ground. He swallowed and looked away, feeling the anger boiling up inside him.

Sirens sounded in the distance. Someone had managed to call the police--thank the Goddesses. He had almost forgotten that he’d been planning on doing that himself. He was probably going to get in trouble when they found him here, in a restricted area of the park and a crime scene no less, but there was nothing he could do about that at this point. He couldn’t care anymore.

The wolf was now standing by a long L-shaped wall, presumably all that was left of a large building. It looked at him, pawed a section of the stone, and then _vanished_. Not run off. It disappeared into thin air.

Link froze, staring at the spot where it had been. Had he imagined it? Had he somehow just missed it walking away? He had to, there was no other way…

No. He knew what he’d seen. Just like he knew deep down there really was something unnatural about his dreams.

He walked slowly up to the wall and knelt before the spot the wolf had touched. The Hylian royal crest was carved into the marble. He reached towards it, wondering what was supposed to happen--

Light burst from his hand, then flowed from it into the wall, streaming upwards and around, forming the outline of a door. The shape flashed once, and the section of wall began to rumble open.

The door opened fully, and the glow faded. As his hand dimmed, he could see the light had a shape. His heart pounded as he realized it was a Triforce, with the bottom right triangle shining brighter than the other two. He stuffed his hand in his pocket, suddenly overwhelmed.

He stared into the doorway. A waist-high tunnel sloped gently downwards. He could see light flickering at the bottom, revealing a stone floor, but he couldn’t make out anything else.

Link closed his eyes for a moment, his hands shaking slightly. He had no idea what could be down there, or what he was supposed to do, but it was becoming increasingly obvious that there was a job here meant for him. He’d been led here, his hand had opened the door, and in his nightmares…a warning. Something horrible was going to happen.

He had a feeling that whatever was coming had something to do with the attacks. Or maybe it was wishful thinking. He was so desperate to help all the victims here. There had to be something he could do.

There was really only one way to find out, wasn’t there?

Jaw set in determination, he crawled through the door.

The tunnel floor was made of the same marble as the wall, and when Link reached the end and his hands touched rough stone it took him aback. He wriggled out of the hole and got to his feet, looking at the large, crumbling stone passageway where he now stood.

There were several huge stone blocks scattered around, placed just so in relation to the pillars and walls that they made the hallway impassable. Link frowned and went to inspect one. If it was just a couple feet to the right he could get around it…

He pushed experimentally, and nearly fell over when the block moved.

Link edged past it, towards even more blocks. Just within his line of vision, at the very end of the hallway, was a door. And next to it, what looked like two wooden chests.

All right, he could see how this was supposed to go.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sometimes a certain past protagonist comes out of retirement to help a hero out.


	3. Castle Town Ruins

Link shoved the last block out of the way, warm with effort and pride. He didn’t get why he had been summoned underground to push stones around, but he thought he’d solved the puzzle pretty nicely.

He lifted his hat to brush sweaty curls off his forehead and tried the door. It was locked, and there weren’t any other exits that he could see. The chests, maybe? He didn’t want to go rummaging around in other people’s things, but it looked like no one had been down here in decades, or even centuries.

He knelt over the first chest, digging his fingers under the lid. It stuck a little but he managed to get it open, revealing a large silver key, tarnished with age. He pocketed it, hoping that it fit the door, and opened the second chest.

Inside was a...belt?

Link lifted out out, and its unexpected weight made him nearly drop it out of surprise. Then he saw there was a scabbard buckled to it, and poking out of one end was a hilt.

He drew the sword and hefted it cautiously. It looked as old and uncared-for as everything else down here, but still had somewhat of an edge despite the nicks and rust. An experimental swish told him he could use it okay, at least for a little bit at a time. It was _heavy._

He set the sword down carefully on the floor and put on the belt, embarrassed at how tight he had to cinch it. This weapon was clearly made for a muscled and practiced warrior, not a skinny teenager still in school. But it didn’t escape his notice that the scabbard was on the right side of the belt. It had been used by someone who was left-handed. Link was left-handed.

The hero was traditionally left-handed.

And there was that other thing that he’d been trying not to think about. If this sword had been left here for him, then he would need it. There was danger waiting for him behind that door.

_You signed up for this when you touched that wall and opened this tunnel,_ he told himself. _You knew you might be getting yourself into something big._

Link sheathed the sword and tried the key. The door unlocked. He swung it open.

Beyond it was a large stone room, a crack near the ceiling washing one side in sunlight. Plant life grew in patches along that wall. Link edged forward, hand on his sword hilt, trying to ignore his pounding heart. He didn’t even notice a doorway in the bare wall until a grate slammed down--as well as on the door he’d just come through--with a loud crash.

Link yelped and jumped back. He hadn’t even finished drawing his blade when five enormous flowers burst out of the ground, flytrap-like heads growling and snapping. He had seen these before, in pictures or behind glass in the Royal Botanical Gardens--Deku Baba were not uncommon--but never this close, in person, actually attacking him.

He watched the closest one for a moment, trying to keep his hand from shaking. Soon he noticed a pattern. It would rear up and then suddenly lunge for him, then draw back, then do it again. Okay, so then if he just--

The Baba straightened up, poised to attack, and Link dropped to the ground and rolled under its bite. He came out of it, still on his knees, and swung as hard as he could. The sword buried itself in the stalk, and the Deku Baba hissed and bit downwards. Its teeth grazed his shoulder, but Link was already swinging a second time. The sword sheared through, and the flower toppled.

Link straightened up, wincing in pain. He touched his shoulder and came away with a little bit of blood. It wasn’t too bad, so he didn’t think he should use his potion just yet, but he wished he could wash the scratch somehow. Well, he’d have to keep moving.

He began crossing the room, defeating each monster as he went. He got cut a few more times, but other than that he thought he was handling himself well. He even managed to slice one Baba’s head clean off while it lunged for him. Yeah...he could get used to fighting with a sword.

It suddenly occurred to him what his classmates would think if they could see him now, and he had to bite down a laugh despite everything.

As the last monster died, the grates slid back up. So...the Deku Babas were a test, of sorts. By defeating them all, he’d passed. He guessed.

He was torn from the thought by a _shimmer_ coming from the middle of the room, which slowly materialized into a chest exactly like the ones in the first room. Link sheathed his sword and nudged the chest open. Inside was a round wooden shield.

Who was putting these things in here? Whatever had been giving him his dreams? The temple itself? The _goddesses?_ He had no idea what was going on. But he supposed that the only way to find out was to keep going.

He strapped the shield onto his back and walked through the doorway.

  


_She was working on her tutor’s daily set of introductory calculus problems when it happened. The waking dream. She fell into a shimmer of colors, which turned into the--_

_No. It wasn’t the tower. It was different this time._

_It was the same boy she always saw, but he now crept through a stone tunnel, holding a chipped sword and a wooden shield rather than his usual gleaming weapons. His green shirt was ripped and stained with dirt and blood, and his jeans were scuffed. But the glint of determination in his dark eyes was the same as ever._

_The vision drew away from him, and sped through a series of rooms to a narrow staircase leading up. The last few stairs were covered in a faded red carpet patterned with gold, and they ended at a white plaster wall--_

_She stiffened and came back to herself. She sat for a couple heartbeats, taking all of it in, and then jumped to her feet and began putting on her shoes, all math forgotten._

_She knew that carpet. She knew that wall--or at least the other side of it. She knew what the dream was telling her to do._

_And somehow she knew it was telling her to do it_ now.

  


The next room was empty, and there were three doors on the opposite wall. Link walked towards the one on the left, thinking he’d try each one in turn, opened it, and stepped into complete darkness.

He edged forward, unnerved by the fact that he couldn’t even see his hand in front of his face. He could see the dim light coming from the previous room, but it somehow wasn’t illuminating anything. He could hear flapping noises in the distance and stopped short. He wasn’t going to fight something he couldn’t see. So how...ah.

Link backed out of the door, took one of the torches that lit the previous room out of its holder, and went back into the dark. The blackness closed around the torch. It was like the light from the door--he could see the torch, but nothing in the room was being lit.

He edged forward, thinking he could cross the room anyway, and his foot went into open air. He pulled it back with a yell of shock and stumbled out of the room. This just wasn’t going to happen until he could find something to light the darkness and see where the floor was.

The middle door had more Deku Babas, and giant spiders. Link was still holding the torch, so he lit two torches that were against the far wall to give himself more light--and was startled when a treasure chest shimmered into existence between them. Inside was fifty rupees. Par for the course if you were exploring a dungeon, he thought, and pocketed it.

Defeating the monsters let him move on. The next room held a deep chasm, and a pressure plate by the door. Stepping on it made several platforms drop from the ceiling, making it possible to cross. Link did so, and nearly didn’t make it before the platforms rose back up. He had to fling himself from the last platform, landing heavily on his shoulder. He gasped for breath as he sat up. He had to remember that there was actual danger here. He could die. The fact that he’d been...chosen or something didn’t mean he was guaranteed to live through this. He’d just been led here. Shown where to go. If he fell down that hole, his dreams wouldn’t stop him from hitting the ground.

He stood, sword knocking against his knee. _That,_ he thought, _is going to get really annoying really quickly._ He took off the belt, stared at it for a moment, then strapped it to his back, over his shield. That felt a lot better. More...right.

At the other end of the room was another pressure plate, so he could get back across if he wanted, and a chest with a yellowed parchment map inside. Link studied it for a couple moments, until he’d figured out where he was. The dark room led to a whole other section of the dungeon; he’d have to figure out some way to get through there. If he went forward, it would lead to a staircase that went, let’s see, down. The third door led to a single room. Link figured he’d head back and see what was in there.

A little bit of backtracking and puzzling led him to another key, which he stuck in his pocket.

Back through the middle door and through the next room brought him to a tall, narrow hallway. He could see a door on a balcony up above. There was a giant picture of an eye on the wall up there, which unnerved him a little as he walked under it and to the staircase on the other side.

At the bottom of the stairs was an enormous circular hall, which was empty except for something gold and gleaming on the far side of the room. Link edged forward, curious, and stopped short when a voice called out.

“Hey! Help! Help me! Hello? Are you here to let me out?”

Link hurried forward and saw that the golden thing was a cage, dangling low from the ceiling. Inside was...even after everything that had happened to him today, he could hardly believe it. It was a tiny girl, about the size of his palm, looking up at him imploringly. Her hair was a brilliant pink, her dress seemed to be made out of leaves, and on her back were two fluttering dragonfly _wings._ “What--who are you? Who put you in here? How can I get you out?” He fumbled in his pocket for the key he had found earlier. It was far too big for the tiny golden lock on the cage.

“A strange woman came. She came and began fighting my family with magic--they told me to fly away but she came after me--and then I woke up here.” She blinked back tears. “You have to help me find my family! I want to go home!”

“Okay,” said Link. “I’ll try. I’m Link. What’s your name? And, uh, what are you?”

She sniffled. “My name is Aerra,” she said. “I’m a Great Fairy. I’m the youngest so I’m not that big yet. To get me out you’re gonna need the key, and the monster had it last I saw. The woman made it to guard me. It’s so big, you have to go back and get help.”

Link swallowed nervously. What woman was this? Was she nearby? She sounded like some sort of...sorceress or something. Maybe she was the horrible presence his dream had been warning him about. This monster that had the key sounded awful enough. He believed the little fairy when she said he’d need help defeating it, but he didn’t know he could possibly get. Doman and Ania? He couldn’t drag them into danger, and anyway Doman was probably...not around. Who else would believe him?

Well...he would have to see. He couldn’t leave Aerra caged any longer than she had to be. “I’ll be back,” he promised. “Where is this monster? How big is it?”

“It’s big. It’s really big. You have to get out of here and get more people to fight it.”

“Okay, I will. I’ll come back. I’m not gonna leave you here.”

“Thank you,” said Aerra, voice quivering. She stuck an impossibly small hand through the bars of the cage. Link smiled at her and tapped the end of one finger against her palm, then walked towards the door he’d come from. Okay, backtracking out of here would take a while but he should be able to--

A heartbeat before he reached the door a grate slammed down, blocking his way.

He whirled around, one hand on his sword. And a pit opened up under his feet.

Aerra cried out as he fell, but she was soon drowned out by Link’s own scream. He somehow hit the ground crouched on both feet, one hand slamming into the floor for balance. He straightened up to the sound of growls, and stared straight into a giant moving bear made of _rock._

With no preamble at all, it lunged at him, and he rolled away with his heart in his throat. He backed up, drawing his sword, and squarely blocked the bear’s next blow with his shield. The impact sent him skidding to the wall. The bear lumbered forward, and Link distantly noticed a delicate gold key tied around its neck.

He couldn’t keep dodging. He had to attack if he wanted to get out of this. When the monster grabbed for him, he swung out wildly at its arm, hearing an audible crack as it connected. His enemy roared with pain and anger, and Link could see little spidery lines where he’d hit it.

He really needed to get away from the wall. The bear took another swipe, and Link ducked under it and scrambled around, stabbing at it before it could turn. He jumped backwards, trying to draw it into the center of the room. He had to keep himself from being cornered again, and this strategy of darting around it seemed to be working, so he needed some space.

It came towards him. Link waited until it was almost on him, then leaped to the side and attacked. He started moving backwards again--then he felt a rocky paw smash into his chest and he was suddenly lying on the floor, winded.

He forced himself to breathe, panicking. He had to get up before the monster finished him off! With each second passing like a lifetime, Link managed to lever himself up onto one knee, and froze as he saw the bear stomping towards him. He rolled sideways almost automatically, and staggered to his feet. He was somehow, miraculously, still holding his sword and shield, and he slammed the latter upwards to catch the bear’s swipe. He whirled away, stabbing its leg as he did. The bear growled and headbutted him in the shoulder, making him gasp in pain.

Link backed into the center of the room, holding his shield in front of him. His forehead was damp with sweat and he struggled to keep his breathing steady. He could see cracks from his sword spread all over his enemy’s body. He hoped that meant he had almost defeated it...he felt like he wasn’t too far from being defeated himself. His entire body throbbed with pain and his sword arm felt almost numb.

He gritted his teeth. He _could_ end this.

The monster reared back, and his past battles with Deku Babas told him what to do. Link charged in under its outstretched arms and struck with everything he had. He heard a loud crack, and the bear staggered back a step.

Link smiled grimly and attacked again, stabbing it so hard that he felt like his sword was going to splinter. The bear roared, and Link scrambled back, waiting for it to go for him again.

Instead it stumbled backwards, sunk to its knees...and hit the floor with a ground-shaking impact. It shattered, the sound echoing long after the last stone shard hit the ground. The key fell to the floor with a clink.

Link dropped to his knees in the sudden silence, gasping for breath. He could feel blood trickling down his forehead and his shoulder. Now was definitely the time to use that potion.

The floor rumbled gently and began rising. By the time it had reached the upstairs room and settled into place, Link could stand again and was holding the key in his hand.

Aerra gasped when she saw him. “You’re okay! I thought--I thought the monster--”

Link smiled as reassuringly as someone could with a face half-covered in blood. “I’m okay. We’re gonna get you out of here.”

When the cage opened, Aerra zipped out and circled his head, trailing little golden sparks. “Thank you thank you thank you!!! I was so scared I’d never get out!” She stopped and hovered in front of his face. “I have to do something to thank you. Oh I know!”

“What?” Link couldn’t help but feel cheerful despite his injuries.

“I know everything about all the monsters in Hyrule. And I know lots of other things too. The older fairies taught me. I can come with you and help you. And--and I don’t know how to get out of here by myself, and maybe if I try the strange woman will catch me again. So can I come with you please? And maybe you can take me home once we get out of here? Please?”

He would be glad of the company, and the knowledge. “Of course you can. Of course I will.”

Aerra did a joyful lap around the room and settled on his shoulder. “Okay! Let’s go!”

Link dug around in his backpack until he found the smooth glass bottle that held his potion, and downed it in one greedy gulp. The scrapes all over his body healed and his exhaustion faded away. He stashed the empty container back where he’d found it--he was definitely refilling this after he got out of here, these potions were _useful._ Feeling a lot better, he crossed the room at last and opened the door on the far side.

There was a narrow hallway, bisected by a raised platform with a chest on it. At the far end was a gated door, with an eye above it exactly like the one he’d seen in the earlier room, with the balcony.

The chest was bigger and more ornate than any of the chests he’d seen down here.

“What do you think’s in there?” he asked Aerra.

“I don’t know!” said the fairy cheerfully. “Let’s find out!”

Link climbed onto the platform and knelt before the chest. As he opened it light poured out, just as it had for the chest that had held the sword. He squinted and reached in to grab hold of something smooth and metallic.

He straightened up, turning the object over in his hands. It looked just like an ordinary magic torch that anyone could just pick up from a store, but who knew. “The dark room from earlier,” he mused. “Hey Aerra, you said you know lots of things. Is there something special about this torch?”

“Oh boy, Link, you really _are_ going to need my help. That isn’t a torch! There’s no fire. Honestly.”

“No no, like a modern torch. A magical torch. It won’t burn you if you touch it and stays on much longer.”

She flitted over to his arm to examine it. “Wow!”

Link flicked the switch a couple times to show her how it worked. The beam looked like one from your everyday torch. Maybe a little more focused and bright? “I thought you were supposed to be the one who knows things.”

Aerra waved a tiny hand in the light, making shadow animals on the wall. Link idly looked around the room, trying to find whatever it was that would make the door open. And then he saw it.

He moved the beam up to the eye above the door, and grinned when it snapped shut and pulsed with light.

“Nice job!” said Aerra as the grate opened. “I bet you can use that torch to do all sorts of things down here. Maybe it’ll make monsters close their eyes too!”

Link switched the torch off and put it in his bag. “Good idea. C’mon, let’s get moving.”

“You did a good job figuring that out about the eye. And I can’t believe you beat that monster all by yourself! I thought it would kill you for sure! And you’re wearing green, and you have a green hat, and you have a sword and shield, and you’re really brave to come here all on your own, so you have to be the hero! Are you?”

“Of course n--” Link stopped. He remembered his dreams, and the wolf, and the mark on the back of his hand, and how he had just faced down a stone monster that was bigger than himself with a sword he barely knew how to use.

“You know?” he said, his stomach churning at the enormity of it all. “Maybe I am.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Fun fact, I was trying to think of a way to say flashlight without saying flashlight, and only later remembered that using "torch" is a real-life British thing, and not something I made up. Still works, so I kept it :P
> 
> I don't even remember how I came up with a flashlight as the dungeon item. I wanted a modern item as the first one (Link gets some traditional Zelda weapons later on) and I guess a light is the number-one thing you want when you're exploring some ancient ruins.


	4. Winged Monstrosity: Feren

Link and Aerra pushed forward, the hours ticking by. Having someone to talk to made it easier for Link, but he still felt himself wishing they could just get through this place already. The monsters and puzzles made things interesting, but there was an awful lot of backtracking and wandering around involved. The tunnel system was something of a maze, and the map helped a little, but it was hard to tell which staircase or hole in the ground or tunnel went where.

The path forward eventually led to several dead ends and locked doors, so Link had headed back. He had closed the eye in the earlier room, which made the floor begin moving up and down like an elevator. Up there was a puzzle room where he had to direct the torch beam off several mirrors to hit even more eyes. The reward for that room was a key. There was another room branching off that with several spider-like and bat-like monsters that Aerra helpfully identified as Skulltulas and Keese. She also told him that the Skulltulas could only be hurt on their underbellies, which saved Link a big headache.

The magic torch ended up being extremely effective against the Keese, making them avoid Link as long as he was shining it towards them. His liberal use of this tactic ended up revealing a symbol on the wall that only appeared in the torchlight. When he touched the spot on the wall, the room rumbled slightly for a moment. Aerra said she felt that something had changed in one of the dead-end rooms on the lower floor; when he returned there a door had opened in the wall.

So he’d done all that running around all over the place and fought all those monsters, and he _still_ hadn’t gotten to the dark room at the very beginning, which was where he’d set out to go in the first place.

In the room he’d opened was another mirror puzzle that revealed a chest.

“Hey, a compass,” said Link as he held it up. “That’ll be useful for finding my way around here. Let’s see, which way is North even?”

“No, no!” laughed Aerra. “It’s a magic compass. Look at your map!”

Link took his map out. There were now several marks on it. Most of them looked like chests, but on a room on the lowest floor was a snarling monster head. “What are these?”

“The chests show all the keys and treasure that you haven’t found yet! I don’t know what that is.” She pointed to the head. “Looks scary though.”

There were so many chests left...oh, and look, there was one in the room _he’d just come from._

“You have got to be kidding me,” he groaned.

  
_She ran outside, crossing the grounds to the equipment shed, and grabbed her bow. She filled her quiver and strapped it on, then ran back outside. Her instructor was walking towards the shooting range, and she ducked behind a bush to avoid him. She didn’t need any questions about what she was doing taking her bow inside--not when she was in a hurry like this._

_The hallway she needed was on the other side of the building. It would be hard to avoid everyone, but if she looked like she was busy and didn’t want to be bothered they would probably leave her alone._

_It took her nearly ten minutes just to jog around to the door she needed. She slowed to a more casual pace as she neared it, smiled and nodded at the guard posted there, and then broke into a run once she was inside and out of his line of sight._

_All right, around this corner, down this staircase, and...yes. This wing had the carpet she’d seen on those stairs. And she remembered the exact spot her father had shown her years ago, in case of an emergency._

_She stopped before a completely empty spot on a completely empty stretch of wallpaper, looked around her, and placed her palm on its surface._

_The royal family crest flashed under her hand, and her body began to glow brightly, the light flowing into the wall._

_A waist-high doorway swung open._

_She eyed the tunnel for a moment, and then crawled in._

  


“You have got to be _kidding_ me!”

The second-to-last chest held twenty rupees.

Link rubbed the spot on his arm where the Skulltula had swiped him. “That...was not worth it.”

“Agreed,” said Aerra. “Now we have to go all the way back upstairs!”

He sighed and pulled out his map. The one remaining chest mark was in the only room he had not yet visited. “I have no idea how to even _get_ there!”

Aerra perched on the map and studied it, frowning. “Well...we’ll figure it out. Let’s go.”

They began the long backtrack. Link could now breeze past the monsters that had given him so much trouble earlier, and could find his way around like it was his own house. It certainly felt like he’d been in here a lifetime, although it had been a couple hours at most. His feet were starting to ache and he was a little hungry, but other than that he felt good. Like he had all of this under control.

But he was almost through...all he needed was the key to open that huge door. The door to the room with the monster head on it.

He didn’t want to think about that right now. He had to focus on getting that key first. There was no sense worrying about it when he had no idea what he was going to face.

So he found himself worrying about Doman instead. Would he ever wake up? Would any of them ever wake up? Was he supposed to do something about it? He had no idea what was going on.

The person attacking everyone...was she the woman who had captured Aerra? What was the point of doing that? Did she need Aerra for something? What was the point of _anything_ she was doing?

They’d finally arrived back at the first dark room. According to the map, the room with the big key had to be accessed from here. Link grabbed his torch and flicked it on, shining it into the blackness.

The beam cut through the unnatural dark and revealed the narrow, twisting platforms that made up the floor of this room. He edged onto it, walking as slowly as he could. A Keese squealed and divebombed him; he quickly shone the light in its eyes and it fled.

He kept going, carefully searching every inch of the room. Two rounds of the room and countless Keese attacks brought him nothing, and his frustration threatened to boil over. Maybe it was near the back wall? He’d already checked, but he might as well--

“WHAT!?”

A chance sweep of the torch halfway across the room revealed a symbol on the wall. Link crept towards it, zigzagging along the maze, and touched it.

A door opened next to him.

“I checked that wall _so many times! AUGH!”_

Aerra giggled; he scowled at her.

The room held nothing but a single chest, which gave him a big golden key, just as expected. Thank the goddesses. Link pocketed it and began the precarious walk back out.

Moments later found him staring up at the giant door.

“I can feel a lot of evil power in there,” said Aerra.

“Well, there’s nowhere else to go.” He sounded a lot more confident than he felt. There were several pots around the door; Link smashed them just to give himself something to do besides go on just yet. Most of them gave rupees, but one of them--

“Whoa, what is that?” Link knelt before the winged ball of light that was now bobbing slowly around the room. “Aerra?”

The great fairy giggled. “It’s one of my cousins! Well, sort of. It’s a fairy too, but they’re not like great fairies. More like magic bugs. They’ll heal you, even if you’re dying! Catch it in your bottle, it’ll be really helpful.”

Link slung his bag off his shoulders and grabbed the empty bottle. It took a little bit of chasing, but he eventually got it inside. “Well, I feel a lot more prepared now,” he said, holding the fairy up to his eyes. It bobbed in place placidly, apparently unaware it was now a captive.

“Good! Ready to open the door?”

Link nodded, and stowed the bottle.

The key easily fit the lock, and it took a big push to turn the enormous thing. Link shoved the door open with his shoulder and stepped inside as the creak echoed around him.

The room was dark, quiet, and cavernous. Link looked around him cautiously, but saw nothing besides a couple pots lined against the walls. The room was stone, and there was a ring of mirrors around the ceiling.

“What do you think’s in here?” he whispered.

Aerra flew towards the center of the room, trailing sparks. “I don’t know, I don’t see anything but I _feel_ something--”

They were cut off by a loud screech, and the sound of beating wings.

  


_The staircase went on forever. She figured she had to be hundreds of feet below ground. It was slow going, too--in her haste she’d forgotten to bring a torch, and the fluorescent lights that lined the walls were a little too dim for her liking. She kept one hand against the wall for balance, and the other gripped her bow tightly. She did not like having to do this, because something on the walls was making her skin crawl. She wanted to think it was just the idea of the dust and mold she was touching, but she strongly suspected it was not._

_This was insane. She had no idea what she would have to face down there. She didn’t know if her dreams even meant anything--if she would find nothing but empty tunnels._

_Well, it was too late to turn back now._

_And then as she neared the bottom and the incline of the staircase grew shallower, the ground began shaking faintly, and she heard a horrible, inhuman cry._

_She strung an arrow on her bow and began taking the stairs as fast as she dared, heart pounding._

  


Something dark and impossibly big was moving on the ceiling, unfolding leathery wings, opening glowing yellow eyes. Link edged backwards, drawing his sword as Aerra zipped back to his shoulder. The thing screeched again and dropped, flapping towards him. He gasped and ducked as it swooped over him, did a lap of the room, and returned to the ceiling.

“Wh-what is that?”

Aerra flew up to face him. “My family told me about him. His name is Feren. He’s a Keese that’s been warped by dark magic. You have to hit him in the eyes!”

_“With what!?”_

Feren was staying put on the ceiling. Link only had his sword and the torch, and neither of those could hurt him up there. The monster hissed and spat out a ball of flame. Aerra squeaked and buried herself in Link’s shirt pocket just before he jumped out of the way, the fire barely missing him.

It could stay up there until the end of time, shooting fire at him until he was dead! What was he supposed to--

The sound of running footsteps made him turn, and a gold, white, and pink blur dropped from up high, landing on the other side of the room. It was a girl, looking about his age and holding a bow that was a mass of pulleys and cables.

He couldn’t get a good look at her face, but Link recognized her immediately. It was the girl from his dream.

“Need some help?” she yelled.

Link felt his jaw drop. “I don’t know, guess!”

There was another hiss as she jumped over a fireball. “I’ll take that as a ‘yes’.”

“Get it in the eye!”

She had the bow up and an arrow loosed almost immediately. Feren only twisted around to avoid it. She shot several more that did just as much damage as the first, then made a noise of frustration.

There had to be some way to distract it, Link thought as he leaped backwards to avoid another fireball. There had to be something he could do--

He sheathed his sword and took out the torch. Okay, this would be just like fighting a Keese, but bigger. Way bigger.

“Get ready to shoot!” he yelled, edging to the side until he was directly opposite from the girl, and switched on the torch. It took several seconds of dancing around, avoiding fireballs and trying to get a good angle, but finally the beam flashed across the thing’s eyes.

Feren screeched in pain and twisted his head directly into the girl’s line of fire. Instantly he heard the snap of a bowstring, and the monster screamed again. The yellow glow of its left eye dimmed.

“Nice idea,” the girl shouted, stringing another arrow on. “Now let’s get the other one!”

Link rolled under another blast and scrambled back to his feet. The monster stretched out its wings, shook itself, and let out a high-pitched trill. Link yelped and jumped back as several Deku Babas and Keese dropped from the ceiling. The girl ducked and rolled under a Baba’s snap, long blond braid whipping behind her, and came out of it already drawing her bow. She sniped a Keese near the ceiling as Link frantically drew his sword and dealt with as many enemies as he could.

When the room was a little clearer, Link took out the torch. “Ready?”

“Ready.”

Link aimed the beam up. A Keese swooped towards him, and he only just managed to get the light in the way in time. As it fluttered away, an arrow punched through it, bringing it down. Link backed up further and took aim again. Feren ducked its head out of the light--and then jerked backwards, an arrow sticking out of its remaining eye.

The monster let out an ear-splitting screech. Link clapped his hands over his ears as Feren crashed to the floor, still screaming. He quickly took out his sword and ran to the center of the room, stabbing the monster in the chest. When he saw it was still moving he stabbed it again and again until it writhed violently, throwing him several feet back.

It flapped slowly to the ceiling, the glow returning to its eyes. Link backed up, his heart sinking. “We have to do that _again?”_

The girl strung another arrow, never taking her eyes off the beast. “Let’s get moving, then!”

The torch beam darted around the room as Link tried desperately to distract the monster once more. It was growing wiser to their efforts, and was now twisting its head around wildly to keep from being blinded.

Aerra poked her head out of his pocket, startling him. He’d almost forgotten she was there. “Link! You see those mirrors on the ceiling?”

He craned his head up and saw a ring of tilted mirrors. He’d noticed them briefly when he’d first entered the room and then gotten distracted by, well, the giant murderous monster.

But he understood immediately what Aerra meant. He nodded his thanks, and shone his light on one of the mirrors. The beam bounced off and hit Feren on the wing. Link moved around the room, trying to get a better angle. The light slid up to the beast’s shoulder, and then it spat fire at him, making him dive to the side. He hit the ground hard but managed to roll immediately to his feet and aim the beam at the mirrors again. He edged forward, adjusting the angle...and the light hit it in the face.

The girl had an arrow off at almost lightning speed. She’d clearly been trained well in archery. Who _was_ she?

There wasn’t time to think about it. There was only time to jump backwards from another round of monsters falling from the ceiling, and fend them off with everything he had. Link whirled around just as a Deku Baba lunged over his head, stabbing upwards and skewering it through the jaw.

“Give me the shot, I’m ready!” The girl yelled. Link sheathed his sword in a movement that felt more and more natural each time, and pulled the torch out of his pocket. He breathed in slowly, trying to gauge the right time, the right mirror to use…

It was much easier the second time. The beam flickered across the mirrors and into Feren’s eye, to be followed by an arrow.

Link was there when it fell to the ground, stabbing it with everything he had, again and again, until it shook him off just as it had done last time.

But instead of rising back to the ceiling, it ruffled its wings, screamed, and charged Link. He yelped in surprise and jumped out of the way, then tried to lunge forward and stab its side. The monster swung around and butted his stomach with its head, knocking him over. He staggered upright, and saw the girl circling behind the monster out of the corner of his eye. He wanted to tell her not to shoot, that the risk of hitting him was too great, but he didn’t want to alert Feren to her presence either.

He took a few steps backwards to give himself some space, shifting his feet into a sturdier position and holding out his sword. The monster roared and charged at him. Link rolled under its wings as it swiped at him, then stabbed as it was still recovering, managing a couple hits.

It twisted around, making him jump out of the way, and spat a fireball at him. Link dodged it and stayed back towards the wall, wary of more. Instead it sprung at him so quickly Link could only raise his shield and brace himself. Its head slammed against the wood, stunning itself just long enough for Link to shake off the ringing in his bones and attack.

As the monster stirred again he quickly got out of the way before it could get him, trying to ignore how the death grip he had on his sword was cramping his fingers. On the other side of the room he saw the girl draw her bow, and before the fear that she would miss could even register Feren screamed as an arrow slammed into its back. Luckily it began moving towards Link--he didn’t think the girl could do much to it in close quarters.

Had he really just thought it was _lucky_ that a monster was coming to attack him?

It lashed out with its claw, but Link was ready, whirling to the side and stabbing out.

What he hadn’t expected was the backswing, which caught him on the shoulder. Link gasped in pain, the arm sagging, his shield practically useless. He could feel blood dripping down his skin, but that didn’t matter now, he couldn’t let that matter now. He parried the beast’s next strike, and then another, dimly noticing another arrow hitting it in the wing. It shuddered in pain, and sent another fireball at him.

Link narrowed his eyes and charged.

He slid under the flames and swung with everything he had. It flinched from the ferocity of his attack, and he stabbed it again and again, determined to do as much damage as he could before it recovered--

It let out a scream louder and shriller than anything it had voiced before, sending Link staggering back, good hand over one ear. Feren writhed furiously, and it looked as if it was cracking, spiderwebbing lines of light spreading over its body.

And then it exploded in a rush of light and wind, pinning Link tightly to the wall.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Who is that girl, Link? What a compelling question that every single one of us can't already answer.


	5. Breaking the Spell

When the light dimmed and the wind ebbed Link cracked his eyes open, leaning forward cautiously. Feren and the monsters it had summoned were gone, and in its place was a shimmering circle on the floor, and something...heart-shaped rotating slowly in the air before him.

He looked up at the girl (she was a bit taller than him, to his embarrassment) as he tried to catch his breath. She looked to be in the same situation as he was, her clothes scuffed and torn, breathing heavily, hair falling out of her braid.

“Hey,” he started, and the girl turned towards him, “Uh...thanks.”

She cracked a smile, something lighting up in her brown eyes. “No problem. It was actually kind of fun.” She paused, looking him up and down. “I don’t think I ever got your name.”

Link grinned. “Yeah, I think there was a bit of a distraction.” He held out a hand. “I’m Link. And you are--?”

And then he really recognized her. His heart stopped in mild horror, and he jerked back his hand and dropped to one knee as fast as his injuries would allow, his face hot with embarrassment. How had he not noticed? The archery should have clued him in from the start! Could a bare head and casual clothes really change a person that much? Why couldn’t he keep his mouth shut before joking around with people he’d just met?

And then, inexplicably, he heard her sigh. “Come on, we just killed a giant monster imbued with dark magic together, I think it’s all right to dispense with formalities.” She offered him her hand. He took it, still squirming inside and hyper-aware of the blood and dust covering his arm, and stood.

“I’m sorry for the disrespect, your Highness, I--I didn’t recognize you.”

“Zelda,” she said. “Please, just Zelda.”

His blush deepened. He couldn’t do that, there was no way.

Aerra burst out of his pocket and fluttered up to the girl’s face. “Link, you know her? She’s important? I don’t recognize her! Hello, it’s nice to meet you, who are you?”

Zelda’s eyes widened. “Oh! Um, hello.” She leaned forward. “You’re...a great fairy, aren’t you? I never thought I would ever get to meet one! I wasn’t--I’m sorry if this is a little rude, but I wasn’t even sure you were real.” She bowed her head to the little fairy. “It’s an honor to meet you. I am Zelda, princess of Hyrule. What is your name?”

“I’m Aerra. And you’re the princess?” Aerra curtseyed back gracefully in midair. “I don’t know you, but my family has told me stories about the Zeldas of the past. Your ancestors.”

Zelda smiled. “Ha, yes. Princess Zelda the Hundred-Somethingth. Never let it be said the royal family is unoriginal with their names.” She chewed her lip, then looked at Link. “May I see your hand again?”

Mystified, he offered it to her. She took it, inspecting the back of his palm. “How did you get in here? As in...was there a door you had to open to get in here? How did you open it?”

He looked up at her with a start. “I--there was a carving of the royal family’s crest in the wall, your Highness, and then I touched it and then I--” He closed his eyes and concentrated, trying to call back the way it had felt.

Light blazed behind his eyelids, and he opened them quickly to see the Triforce mark gleaming on his hand for a moment before it faded.

Zelda and Aerra were both staring at him, speechless.

The princess was the first one to break the silence, dropping his hand and stepping back. “I mean, I knew… I saw you in my dreams, so I knew you had to be--but you really are. You’re Farore’s Chosen. You hold the Triforce of Courage.”

It really hit him then. The immense power living inside him. That this power was even real. The burden he had to shoulder. Something was coming--the evil he’d seen at the end of his dream. And he’d seen himself facing it.

He looked at Zelda, completely lost.

“Come on,” she said. “You need to meet my father. I think we’ll have a lot to talk about. And...I think he’ll understand.”

Link nodded, taking a deep breath to get his composure back.

“We should get out of here. That is, if we can. The door back there is still barred and the passageway I used to get in here is all the way up there.” She gestured towards a balcony near the ceiling.

He looked around the room, but just as before, saw no open exits. “Aerra, how do we leave this room?”

The fairy flew over to the shining circle on the ground. “Here! It’s a portal. I don’t know exactly where it goes, but it’ll take you out. Oh! Before you go!” She zipped over to the floating heartlike object. “It’s the life energy of the monster. If you both touch it, it’ll make you stronger.”

Zelda gave it a curious look. “Well, we don't know where it leads, but it's probably better than being trapped in here for the rest of our lives. All right, shall we?”

Link edged forward cautiously, reaching out a hand as the princess did the same. Their fingers brushed the surface of the heart, and it dissipated and streamed up their arms. Link felt it flowing through him, warm and fizzing. His injuries disappeared, leaving him still exhausted and bloody, but feeling much less like he was about to collapse any second. He sighed loudly in relief.

“No kidding,” Zelda laughed. “That is definitely a lot better.” She swung her arms a couple times, then raised an eyebrow and gestured at the portal.

Link nodded. Aerra nestled herself in his shirt pocket once more.

They stopped into the shimmering whiteness together.

  


The room was small and filled with a clear blue light, a sharp contrast to the dim and crumbling ruins he’d just been wandering for hours.

Link staggered as they touched down. He looked around, shielding his eyes. The light came from a cluster of glowing threads reaching towards the ceiling, then spreading out and down over the walls in every direction. The threads seemed to be…”sprouting” was the best word he had to describe it. They were growing out of a large metal basin on the floor.

He could feel his brain shutting down. This was just one weird thing too many, and there hadn’t been nearly enough time to process it all.

Zelda crossed the room and opened the door on the other side. “This is the staircase I used to get down here. That’s good, we can get out of here.” 

Link only dimly registered her words. He was bent over the basin, squinting. At first he couldn’t make anything out, but as his eyes grew used to the light he could see that the basin was filled with glass orbs about an inch in diameter. There were lights shining faintly inside them, flickering and changing colors. And he could hear...whispering…

“What is this?” he wondered aloud.

Zelda walked back and leaned over next to him. “Listen,” she said. “They’re calling for help.”

With slowly awakening horror, Link began to make out words. They were crying for mercy, to be released, for their families and friends. And then he recognized one voice in particular, and gasped aloud. “Doman!”

Zelda turned to him. “What?”

His mouth had suddenly gone dry. When he could speak, he said, “My friend Doman. Your Highness. He was in one of the attacks that have been going on. It happened only a couple hours ago. I can hear him! Doman!” He leaned down further, trying to tell which of the spheres his friend’s voice was coming from.

The princess’s eyes widened, and she reached into the basin. Just before her hand reached the lip, blue light flared and she pulled it back, shaking it and wincing. “Ouch. I should have expected that. They’ve protected these well. Hm...that’s one mystery solved.”

“What are you talking about? You mean the person who’s been attacking everyone? And who captured Aerra? What is all of this?”

“The woman who attacked my family did this?” Aerra hovered next to the contraption. “I can’t hear their voices...they’re not in here.” Her voice shook.

Link held a finger out; she perched on it and rubbed her eyes. “Hey, we’ll get you back to them. Don’t worry.”

Zelda began pacing around the basin, eyebrows furrowed. “The victims of the attacks have been in comas, in an endless sleep. They breathe and their hearts beat, but there’s nothing conscious inside, right?”

“Oh. I think I see where you’re going with this,” said Link. “But, if you’re right, what would she want with their consciousness? If that’s what they are? Souls? Spirits?”

She stopped, looking at him thoughtfully. “I think the closest word would be ‘essence.’ And...I think they’re a power source.” She waved at the threads. “See how they’re growing down the walls? They’re spreading outwards from this basin. Oh, and look! At the corners!” She pointed downwards, and Link went to take a closer look. The threads on the ceiling and the upper walls were in straight, even lines, but as they came lower and lower they started to crisscross. By the time they reached the floor, they made a clear pattern.

“It looks like the inside of a magiscreen or something, your Highness,” said Link. “Only the magic threads are way thicker…”

“Yeah, this is definitely a spell. Here are the markers--they’ve used pen.” She pointed between two of the threads, and Link could just make out a black line scraped on the stone wall. Markers were what shaped a spell, what wove weak magic strands into something stronger. They could be drawn by hand, but it was imprecise, and no one except students really did that nowadays. A spell this complicated, a spell that was actually meant to do something, would ordinarily have the markers printed directly onto the surface.

Zelda crouched and traced patterns on the floor. “Three by four basic structure, so it’s endomagical. The overlying pattern is...Auren’s? It skips every sixth thread, right?” She looked at Link expectantly, and he flushed.

“I...I think so?” He wasn’t the best magical sciences student. He vaguely remembered desperately memorizing the basic spell patterns the night before an exam, but none of it had really stuck. The Auren structure was...no, wait, it was a cycle of six, but it skipped two threads every four. “No no, it’s not Auren. I think it’s the Jaryck structure? What’s that supposed to do again?”

“I have no idea what you two are talking about,” Aerra whispered in Link’s ear.

He smiled at her. “I barely know myself.” It felt like his whole body was throbbing with exhaustion. He _really_ wasn’t in the mood to do any heavy thinking.

“Ugh, yeah, you’re totally right,” said Zelda. “Five then one then five...yeah. Wow, I feel dumb. So...a spell meant to take in magic, and the Jaryck structure is protective...what are they protecting? Did we see anything in here that needed guarding? It wasn’t Aerra, or you never would have been able to free her like you did. I don’t understand. Oh!” She pointed upwards. “The spell’s going up the ceiling and down the walls. It’s being flipped. What we see on the walls is backwards.”

Link looked at the ceiling for a moment, thinking. “So it’s not protective. It’s meant to cancel out a protection.”

Zelda gasped, eyes wide with alarm. “It’s dissolving a guarding spell! Oh, no. I knew I felt something on the walls while I was walking in here. I think they’ve spelled the passageway--I think it’s eroding the magical barrier on the door I used to get in!”

“Which is where? Where are they trying to break into?”

Zelda gave him a grim look. “The castle. Link, we have to destroy this thing.”

He felt dread begin a slow burn in his stomach. “Wow. Yeah. But how, your Highness?”

“Just Zelda, please,” she said distractedly as she stared at the basin. “Okay. I think between your Triforce and my family’s magic we can do this. Come over here?”

Link went over to the basin, ignoring the way his heart had begun thudding at the words _your Triforce,_ and she moved directly across from him. “I have no idea if this is going to work,” she said as she held her hands out. He cautiously took them in his own. “Okay, try to call on the Triforce like you did before, back there. I think the raw power of our magics combined will overwhelm the spell, without us having to make a spell of our own.”

“Um...what happens if it doesn’t work, your Highness? I don’t want to accidentally kill everyone in here.”

“We can’t,” she said. “These glass orbs have been treated, see how they’re coated in that kinda bluish stuff? It’s the same stuff that’s laid over a magiscreen. These were magic-proofed to keep the essences in, but it’ll also keep us from damaging or breaking them with our own power. Okay?” She smiled reassuringly.

“You can do it!” Aerra whispered. He nodded, and closed his eyes. He could hear Zelda breathing. And...he felt his left hand grow warm, and a bright golden light blazed before his eyelids, and a thrumming noise filled the room, and then…

Everything was silent and dark. Link opened his eyes slowly. The room was pitch black except for the soft glow from his shoulder that was Aerra--not nearly enough to see by. He worked his torch out of his pocket and switched it on.

“Ow!” said Zelda, shielding herself from the beam shining directly into her eyes.

“I’m so sorry!” Link moved the torch towards the basin, face burning.

She uncovered her face. “It’s all right. Did it work?”

Ignoring the trembling in his exhausted legs, he leaned over, lighting up the spheres. They were empty. The cries for help had stopped as well. “I...think so?” He shone the light on the walls--the threads were gone.

Soft clinking noises told him Zelda was fishing around in the basin. “Can I get some light over here?” Link obliged, and she held one of the spheres inside the beam, frowning. “They’re totally empty. And the protection on this container is gone. We definitely broke the spell. I just really hope all the victims have woken up, too.”

“Yeah.” Link tried not to imagine his best friend asleep in some hospital bed for the rest of his life. “Um...is there anything else to do in here, your Highness? I’ve just been running around in here for a while and it’s probably night by now and I--oh Goddesses, I have school tomorrow.”

Zelda laughed. “Will your teachers accept a signed note from the king? I know it’s late, but I think we should really tell him what happened here as soon as possible. We’ll feed you for your time. I bet it’s a while since you’ve last eaten.”

He’d been trying hard not to think about that, but now his hunger hit him full-force. “Are--are you sure, your Highness?”

“Of course I am. No problem at all.”

“Then that would be nice, thank you so much. Oh, Aerra--what do great fairies eat? Are you hungry?”

“We eat the same things humans do!” The tiny girl said, then stuck her tongue out at Link. “Only much less, obviously.”

“Okay then, um, yes, dinner would be fantastic. Thank you, your Highness.”

She was bent over the basin. “Hang on, I just want to take a couple of these for the police or someone to inspect...all right. Let’s go.”

The stairwell was dark, but Link could just make out a haze of yellow light further up. They began the climb, the thin light of the torch quivering with his steps. No one said anything; it seemed that nothing needed to be said. Link was wondering how on earth one talked to a king. He was wondering how late he would get to bed tonight. He was wondering what it meant to be the hero, and what he had to do to stop...whatever was coming.

The yellow light turned out to be magical light bulbs set in the ceiling. It was weird to see something so modern as a fixture in this old and crumbling place. Then he saw the stairs were now carpeted in dusty red and gold, and there was a plaster wall up ahead--it was as if they were rising through the centuries.

Zelda glanced at him in the new light, and froze.

“What?” he said in alarm.

She smiled wryly. “Nothing, it’s just that I didn’t realize exactly how much blood and dust and sweat we’ve got all over us. Security is going to faint on the spot when they see me.” She pulled an elastic tie off the end of her braid, combed out her hair as best as she could with her fingers, and braided it again. She brushed at the short athletic skirt she wore over her leggings, which didn’t seem to do much. “That probably looks a little better, at least…I don’t really think we can do anything about our faces or clothes. Do you have any tissues with you or something?” Link shook his head. “Oh well. Onwards, then.”

They climbed the remaining stairs to the top. Zelda’s talk of their appearances made Link look at her, really look at her, for the first time. It was hard to believe that this gangly, disheveled girl was the same put-together princess he’d seen in pictographs his entire life. She didn’t even look like the confident athlete who performed at archery exhibitions. She looked like a girl who had just spent the past hour fighting for her life.

“So,” she said. “Do you think that thing always lived down there? Or was it just being kept there until they broke into the castle?”

Link looked down at his shoulder. “Aerra, I think this one’s for you.”

She flitted over to Zelda, flying backwards as they walked. “My family told me stories about Feren. He’s been living in the tunnels under Castle Town for hundreds of years. The story is that he was just an ordinary Keese who got turned into a huge monster during one of the times Hyrule was nearly taken over by dark magic. It’s been living there since then, eating anyone who accidentally comes into its lair.”

“I didn’t even know until today that the tunnels existed,” said Link. “I can’t believe there’s been a monster like that down there this whole time.”

“My father told me about the tunnels years ago,” said Zelda. “The network is much wider than what we’ve seen here, but a lot of it has been blocked off or has caved in. It was built as a way for the royal family to get around the city in secret. Most of the entrances will open only to someone holding a piece of the Triforce, but the one in the castle had an extra spell put on it so it can only be accessed by someone with the royal family’s magic.”

“Because Ganon could have gotten in,” Link figured. “Why would anyone make an entrance to the castle that could be used by Hyrule’s worst enemy?”

“The tunnels were made when the royal family still guarded the entire Triforce. Before Ganon first tried to steal it, and broke it apart.”

His jaw dropped. “But that was nearly a thousand years ago!”

“I know, this place looks like it’s hundreds of thousands of years old _at least._ ” She grinned at Link, and he smiled back. “Anyway, in the past millennium Ganon’s only been a problem, what, three times? It isn’t really a problem we’ve needed to worry about too often.”

“But when it is a problem,” said Link.

She nodded. “Yeah. When it is.”

They had reached the top of the stairs. Zelda leaned forward and placed one hand on the wall. Light flowed from her whole body, rather than just from her hand like it had with Link, and the door rumbled open. “Welcome to Hyrule Castle,” she said with a grand sweep of the hand.

“Um, Aerra, better get in my pocket,” said Link. “I think seeing you might freak people out.”

Zelda raised an eyebrow. “More or less than the blood all over us?”

“Well, at least most people believe blood _exists,_ ” Link said as the fairy nestled herself in his shirt.

“‘Most?’ I want to know who the rest of those people are.” Link rolled his eyes before realizing that wasn’t the most polite thing to do to a princess, but she was still smiling. They crawled into the hallway, the wall sliding shut behind them.

“Do you think anyone’s noticed you were missing?” Link asked, looking in awe at the rich carpet, chandeliers, and golden-framed paintings surrounding him. He felt the dirt and gore on him more strongly than ever.

Zelda began walking. “I don’t know. I don’t think I was even gone for an hour. But if anyone stopped by my room and noticed I wasn’t there, the entire castle is probably freaking out.” She sighed. “If I told anyone what I was doing, they never would have let me go. Even if they’d believed me.”

They rounded a corner and came out into a wider hallway lined with statues. A man and a woman in the gray-and-gold uniforms of the Hyrule Guard paced up up and down. They looked up at the sound of footsteps, and froze when they saw Link and Zelda.

“Princess!” said the woman, with a short bow. “What--what happened? Are you hurt? Who is this?”

“I’m fine, don’t worry,” said Zelda with a reassuring smile. “It looks worse than it is. This is Link. He’s a friend. Is my father in his room? I need to talk to him.”

The guards looked bewildered. “I...okay,” said the man. “The king was in his study, the last I heard. Are you sure you’re alright, your Highness?”

“Completely fine, thank you. Oh! Weird question, but has there been any news about the attack victims?”

They stared at her. “Yes. We got the news five minutes ago, they’ve all just woken up. How did you…?”

Zelda grinned wide, and Link felt himself doing the same. Doman was okay! They were all okay! “It’s a long story. I wish I could tell you more, but I really need to talk to my father as soon as possible. Have a good night! Come on, Link.” She beckoned to him as she began walking further down the hallway. Link followed, face burning as the guards gave him suspicious looks.

Zelda had to give many similar explanations as they made their way down corridors and up staircases. One of these was to a man who apparently worked in the kitchens, because he offered to bring the princess food and wet towels, which she gratefully accepted. They cleaned themselves off as best and as quickly as they could in the hallway, and ate the cheese sandwiches as they continued on.

She chatted with him the whole way; asking him how old he was, where he lived, what school he went to, what his favorite screen shows and books were. Link was far too exhausted to talk, not to mention it still felt odd to have a princess talking to him so casually, but he answered her as best as he could. It turned out they both read the same popular sci-fi series, and Zelda went on excitedly about her predictions for the next book while Link smiled and nodded and wished just a little that she would leave him alone and let his brain rest.

At last they reached the top floor of the castle, and were waved past by yet more guards, who told her that his Majesty was indeed in his study. They made Link leave his sword with them, looking rather confused as they did so. _I know,_ Link wanted to tell them, _using this thing feels unreal to me too._

He was too tired to even be nervous. He just wanted to get this meeting over with so he could get home. The food had given him energy, but it was still nearly midnight and he still hadn’t sat down in hours.

Zelda stopped by a seemingly random door, and knocked.

“Who is it?” said a voice that Link had only ever heard through a magiscreen or from a podium.

“It’s me, Dad. It’s, um. There’s something I have to talk to you about. And there’s someone here to meet you.”

A chuckle came through the door. “Well, that’s remarkably vague of you. Better come in, Zellie.”

Zelda opened the door, and Link saw a middle-aged man with graying, messy hair sitting at a cluttered desk. The sight of him jump-started his brain, and it took effort not to wipe his sweaty hands on his jeans as he bowed.

“Father, this is Link,” said Zelda in what Link was beginning to recognize as her “princessing” voice. “Link, may I present my father, King Ersten of Hyrule.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> They've literally lost count of how many Princess Zeldas there have been, I kid you not.
> 
> The official timeline is pretty vague, but I feel like Skyward Sword was about 1500 years ago (the kingdom of Hyrule was founded shortly after, maybe two or three generations), Ocarina of Time was about 1000 years ago, Twilight Princess was ~700 years ago, and Four Swords Adventures was ~400 years ago.


	6. The Triforce of Wisdom

The king paled in shock and half-jumped to his feet when he saw them. “My Goddesses, Zelda! Are you okay?”

“Absolutely. Just tired. Going over Council proposals, huh?” The Council was an elected group of officials who governed Hyrule along with the king.

“Yes, but--what _did_ this to you? Is anyone else in danger?”

Her mouth twitched. “A giant mutated Keese living under the castle, you know how it goes. It’s taken care of. Oh, and I think we woke up all the coma victims, but that was kind of by accident.”

Ersten looked shocked for the briefest of seconds, then stern and angry. “I fail to see how that could possibly be funny. Would you care to explain why you appear to have deliberately sought out danger in a way that _makes any sense?”_

Zelda ducked her head, blushing. “It had to be done, Father.” She took a deep breath, apparently gathering her thoughts. “Do you remember that nightmare I’ve been having? With the tower and the monsters and a boy with a sword?”

Ersten nodded once. It was clear by his expression that he was not quite convinced that anything besides for staying safe at home had been necessary. Link’s heart began pounding--they’d been _having the same dream._

“Well...I saw the boy again, but it was a different dream. He was in the tunnel system under the city. And I had this sort of...I had this really strong feeling that he needed my help. So I went. And he was there, Dad! It was him!” She gestured to Link, who felt his stomach twist as the king looked directly at him. “ _This_ is him.”

The king gave the both of them a long look. “That’s...very curious.” He scratched his beard. “It’s unfortunate that the tunnels have been compromised. We don’t want everyone and their aunt running around down there. I’ll have to talk to someone about it in the morning.”

“No, Dad,” said Zelda. “He came in through one of the doors.”

“Ah, all right. Link, was it?”

“Yes, your Majesty.” He barely managed to keep his voice steady.

“Distantly related to the royal family, are you?”

“Um, no, your Majesty. Not that I know of.” It was odd to think of himself being related to Zelda, with her skin a good few shades lighter and her hair a sunny blond to his black. But anything was possible.

The king smiled. “Well, you must be somehow. It’s surprising that there is still enough power in you to operate the doors, but there we are--”

“Dad,” said Zelda. “You don’t understand.” She paused. “Can anyone hear us in here?”

“No. Zelda, _what is this all about?”_

She turned to Link, excitement dancing in her eyes. “Show him how you opened the door.”

Feeling a little like a pet being asked to do a trick, Link closed his eyes and called on his Triforce. His hand grew warm and light shone before his eyelids-- 

Something was different. He felt...something vibrating inside him. His hand got even warmer and the light seemed a lot stronger. His eyes snapped open and he saw--

He saw the king’s eyes wide with shock, his face illuminated by a clear gold light. He saw that the shadows were all wrong and the light was far too bright to come from Link’s hand alone. He saw the king raise his right arm in wonder.

And then he saw the shining Triforce mark on the back of the king’s hand.

“You can stop now,” said Zelda. She was smiling. Link let go, and the room dimmed once more.

 _The Triforce of Wisdom,_ he thought in disbelief. _So the royal family_ did _have it all this time._

But the king looked troubled. “This is absolutely amazing, I mean the Triforce of Courage has only shown itself twice in the past thousand years. And yet I would give so much for this not to have happened in my lifetime.”

“Because the hero wouldn’t be reborn if there wasn’t something they had to stop,” Link found himself saying. “It means something bad is going to happen to Hyrule.”

“Yes,” said the king. “Yes, precisely.”

Zelda gave Link a look that said _see, I told you he’d understand._

“Do you know what that might be? Do you know what the danger is?”

Link swallowed. “I--I don’t know, your Majesty. I only realized my dreams were real a few hours ago. I don’t really understand what’s going on. None of this feels like it has anything to do with me...I’m only a tenth grader. I’m sorry, your Majesty, I wish I was more help.”

“It’s got to be whoever made that spell, right?” Zelda said. “Oh, Dad, there was--ugh, there’s way too much going on. Hang on. Let’s start from the beginning.”

Speaking in turns, they told King Ersten everything that had happened that night. Link detailed his crawl through the Ruins and how he had rescued Aerra. The little fairy flew out of his pocket when he mentioned her, and the king introduced himself in a voice full of wonder. He spent several minutes asking her about her people and culture until Zelda got him back on track.

The princess helped Link explain how they had taken down Feren together, and how they’d found the room with the essences and the spell they were being used to power, and how they’d destroyed it.

“And two guards told us the victims had woken up,” Zelda finished, “So I think that must have been because of what we did. And now we’re here.”

 _“Goddesses,”_ said King Ersten. “That is quite a story. Zelda, you could have been killed!”

Zelda looked at her feet. “I know, Dad. I know it was really dangerous. But Link needed my help. And we never would have been able to wake up all those people. Dad...this was something I was supposed to do. Like how Link has been given his own task.”

Her father paused for a long moment, then sighed. “All right. We’ll talk about this later, Zelda. For now, I want to hear more about that spell you two found. Did you say people have been extracting people’s _essences?”_

“I know,” said Zelda. “They must be geniuses.”

“I...I don’t know,” said Link, then nearly flinched as the princess and the king looked at her. “I, um. Well, because the spell we found was so simple. Your Majesties. Princess Zelda and I recognized the structure almost immediately, and I’m not a very good magical engineering student. I don’t get how someone who can do something that isn’t supposed to be possible--capture someone’s soul or whatever--would then use a spell that any highschooler would know.”

“Good point,” said Zelda. “It must be someone else who figured out the essence technology, and taught our perpetrator how to use it. Whoever is physically carrying out the attacks must not know that much about magic.” Her eyes widened and she dug into her pocket. “I forgot--I took a couple of the globes. We should have someone study them.”

King Ersten held out his hand, and Zelda handed the spheres over. “Remarkable,” he said, holding them up to the light. “The spell is carved right into the glass, on the inside, see? I don’t recognize these patterns at all. I can’t even tell what the basic structure is! The magical sciences community is going to love this.” He cleared his throat. “Anyway. So either the attackers are working in tandem with scientists, or have been buying this technology from...somewhere. I haven’t heard of any research going on about essence extraction. The last I knew, no one was really sure if consciousness was a quantifiable _thing._ It’s worrying to think such great advancements in magical science could be taking place in secret like this. And we still have no idea _why_ they have been doing this.”

Zelda made an impatient noise. “To get into the castle, no? To capture it. Or assassinate you.”

“But _who?_ And _why?”_ The king sighed. “There is just so much we don’t know. And so much of it could be dangerous. And there isn’t time…”

“Oh,” said Zelda, eyes widening with such sick, dread-filled realization that the feeling spilled over into Link. “I think I know. If the second piece of the Triforce has come back into the world, it can only be to balance out the third.”

“Ganon,” said Link past the sudden metallic taste in his mouth. “Right out of a bedtime story.”

“To be fair,” said Zelda with a faint smile, “So is the hero.”

She had him there.

“Zelda,” said the king, “That’s a very serious accusation you seem to be making.”

She looked confused for a moment. “I don’t...oh. I wasn’t saying anyone was Ganon _specifically._ But yes, you have to admit that if it’s anyone...it’s probably Azaren.”

Link scrambled to remember. He wasn’t too good on current events, and didn’t want to seem ignorant in front of the king and princess. The Gerudo had only one male born in a generation, who had traditionally become their king. The first and second Ganondorfs had both been this male. But several years before Link had been born, the desert tribe had decided to become a democracy. As this generation’s male, Azaren, had grown older, he had resented these changes more and more. He now led a fiercely dedicated group of Gerudo in an attempt to take the throne he considered rightfully his.

“Well, I certainly can’t up and call the leader of the Gerudo royalists an ancient evil demon reborn,” said King Ersten wryly. “And he’s never so much as shown a glimmer of interest in Hyrule, only in seizing the Gerudo throne.”

“Ganon has always kept his motives in shadow,” Zelda said. “He’s done so in every legend. He faked an alliance with Hyrule in the Era of the Hero of Time to get his hands on the Triforce. And he hid behind Zant and Vaati, letting everyone _think_ they were the real threat until the very end.”

“True,” said the king, “But there is still no proof that Azaren is an immediate danger to Hyrule, and until we have more evidence than ‘my daughter’s been having these weird dreams and you’re a Gerudo male,’ there is no reason to think that he is anything more than he seems.”

Zelda frowned. “Then we need to find out more, and we need to do it quickly. This attempt to break into the castle failed, but there will be another one, and we need to be ready.”

“There have been reports of similar attacks taking place elsewhere in Hyrule,” said King Ersten. “I don’t know what Ganon would do that for if he were just after the Triforce. You’re right that we need to know more, so investigating sounds like a good place to start. But...I don’t know how I could tell the police or the Council about this right now. It sounds so outlandish. And since I think it would be a very good idea if Link kept his Triforce hidden for as long as possible, there is really no way to convince anyone of what we suspect. They should know that people are being attacked for their essences, but I don’t think they can really be told anything else, so I don’t know how they’d know to look for anything of use. And, of course, Hyrulean police looking around for Ganon would surely cause incident.”

Link fidgeted. “Um...I think that’s my job, your Majesties, isn’t it? If I’m the hero and all of that.”

“Of course!” said Zelda. “No one’s going to think twice about a couple of kids asking around. No offense meant, Link, of course. I don’t know how I’ll disguise myself, but we’ll figure it out--”

“I’m sorry, what?” The king raised eyebrows at his daughter. “You’re staying right here.”

Zelda gave him a desperate look. “But Link needs my help! I’m supposed to be doing this with him!”

“Oh, _are_ you? You have no way of knowing that. Absolutely not.”

“We killed that monster _together!_ It was my fight too! You can’t--”

“I absolutely can,” the king interrupted, icy cold. Link shifted awkwardly. “Zelda, you _cannot_ go wandering all over the country. Sneaking out to fight dangerous beasts once is more than enough. You are the princess of this kingdom, you have a _duty.”_

Zelda’s face was growing red with anger. “Yeah, a duty to _protect Hyrule._ So let me do it!”

“You can and will do that from home. If you want to do something to help, you can look through intelligence reports on the royalists.”

“Dad, you can’t do this--”

“Later, Zelda,” he snapped. Link stared resolutely at his hands, face burning.

“But--”

_“We will discuss this later.”_

Zelda scowled at the ground, but said nothing.

“Now, Link,” said King Ersten, and he looked up, still feeling immensely awkward. “You’ll have to take a little time off, I’m afraid. Far be it from me to forget the importance of education, but there’s really nothing else for it. Your teachers will be contacted. Where do you go to school?”

“Northern Castle Town High,” said Link, somehow almost laughing at the surrealness of it all. He could hear Doman and Ania making fun of him for finding the most convoluted way possible out of his essay.

“All right. The attacks outside of Castle Town have taken place in or around Goron City and Zora Grotto. Just go, talk to people, find out what you can, and save the rest of the victims if possible. Report back here as often as you can.” The king sighed again. “I’m sorry to have placed such a large task on your shoulders. But Farore chose you for a reason. I truly believe you can do this, Link.”

He bowed slightly, stomach clenching. “Thank you, your Majesty.”

The king smiled. “Now, it’s almost midnight and a lot has happened today. It’s probably time you got home. It was good to meet you, even if I wish it had been under different circumstances. Thank you for aiding my daughter.”

Link glanced at Zelda, remembering the battle they’d just fought together. “I feel like she helped me far more than I helped her, your Majesty. She saved my life.”

Zelda met his eyes and smiled. “All in a day’s work for a princess. I’ll walk you out; it’s so easy to get lost in here.”

“Come straight back here after,” said King Ersten sternly. “We’re not done talking.”

“Yes, Dad,” Zelda mumbled.

To Link’s utter shock, the king stood and gave him a short bow. “Safe travels, Link.”

“Thank--thank you so much. Goodbye, your Majesty.” He bowed to the king again, and they left the study.

“Ugh!” Zelda said the minute they rounded the corner. “He’s so _strict_ all the time! He’d keep me locked up in the castle my whole life if he could.”

“Sorry, your Highness,” was all he could come up with. It was always so awkward when a friend got in trouble while you were visiting, but it was ten times worse when it was a _princess_ being scolded by a _king._

She sighed. “Well, whatever. It is what it is.”

They walked the hallway in silence, and then: “You made it sound like I killed that monster myself while you stood around,” said Zelda as Link retrieved his sword from the guards.

He finished buckling the belt, and shrugged. “I would have definitely died if you hadn’t showed up, your Highness. Without a bow, there was nothing I could do. And I can’t do the kind of shooting you can.” He flushed. “So...thank you. Really.”

She smiled and shrugged. “It’s okay if you call me Zelda. I mean, after everything that’s happened. And, well--” she dropped her voice to a near-whisper--”you’re the hero, so you’ve sort of got the right, you know?”

Link felt his face turning bright red. “I...I’m sorry, it just feels so weird. I can’t right now. Your Highness. But thank you for saying that.”

It was so easy to feel like they were friends, like she wasn’t the same princess Link had been reading about in newspapers and magazines his entire life. But she _was_ a princess. An extremely personable princess who seemed to make quite a good monster-killing team with Link, but...still.

“Okay, that’s fine,” said Zelda. “Hey, have you ever been to Death Mountain or Zora Grotto before?”

He had to think about it for a minute. “I’ve been hiking on Death Mountain but never to Goron City, your Highness. I’ve been to Zora Grotto a couple times.”

“Goron City’s a really cool place. It really _feels_ like you’re inside a mountain. You should go back and tour it properly when all of this is over.”

Link nodded. “Okay, I will. Uh, you get there by taking the gondola from Kakariko, right?”

“Yeah. Or, you know, you could walk all the way up the mountain if you want the exercise,” she teased, and he returned her smile. 

“If I’m going to be fighting more monsters, I _will_ need to get in shape.”

They were back on the ground floor now. The guards seemed to be leaving them alone; Link figured they were thinking that if the princess was smiling and laughing then she was all right, despite her disheveled state.

He really couldn’t wait to get home and change out of his ripped and stained clothes. And sleep. But that was still a long time away. He really wanted to stop by Doman’s house on the way home and see if he was all right.

“It took the both of us to break the spell in the Ruins,” said Link after an oddly comfortable silence. “You think I’ll be able to do it on my own, your Highness?”

Zelda frowned. “I don’t know. I guess we’ll find out, though. You’ve got some pretty powerful magic under your skin.” Link flexed his hand self-consciously. “If not, I guess my father or I will have to come over and help you out. Or we’ll find some other way to break it.”

“We’re just wildly guessing at everything. We don’t really _know_ what’s going on. All we’re really doing is following the trail our dreams have been leaving us. This all just seems so...uncertain.” Link chewed at his lip.

“I know,” said Zelda. “I hate that we know something bad is going to happen, but we can’t do anything to stop it yet. I wish I could come with you. But, you know.”

For a moment he wished the king had said yes, that Zelda would be coming with him. But Link knew he was right. He needed to be inconspicuous, and--well--it would be dangerous, and Link was a random fifteen-year-old, and Zelda was a princess.

They exited the palace and began crossing the grounds. The autumn wind snuck into the tears in Link’s clothes, making him shiver. “I,” he said with a punctuating hand wave, “am in completely over my head.”

Zelda laughed. “No one ever knows what they’re doing, but that doesn’t mean you can’t figure it out as you go. Trust me on this.” She stopped walking just short of a tall silver gate. “I’m not allowed out of the palace grounds without a guard,” she said with a grimace, “so I’ll have to leave you here. The train stop is right down the street and around the corner, if you didn’t know.”

“Thanks,” he said. “For. You know. Everything.”

“And thank you as well, Link.” She curtseyed to him, and he bowed back, face growing hot.

“I, um, I’ll see you when I get back?”

She nodded. “Of course. I can’t wait to hear what you find out. Good luck.”

“Thank you, your Highness,” he said, and immediately felt like an idiot because he’d _just_ thanked her.

“Goodbye, Princess!” came a small voice from his pocket.

Zelda laughed. “Goodbye, Aerra. It was nice to meet you. And you too, Link...it was very good to meet you. I’ll see you soon.” She held out a hand, and Link took it carefully. They shook, Zelda’s fingers briefly squeezing his own, and then stepped away.

The last thing he saw as he left the castle was her wave goodbye.

  


It was a quick train ride, Link fighting sleep the whole way and Aerra teasing him in whispers about how nervous he’d been talking to the king and princess. Link really hoped he hadn’t made an idiot of himself in front of them, but he thought it had gone okay? No use thinking about it now.

Doman’s stop was a few blocks away from his house, in one of the Goron neighborhoods. The houses here were artfully simple, and made largely out of stone. The streetlights were dim enough that Link was grateful for his torch; it cut a pure white beam of light through the darkened streets as he walked, legs shaky with exhaustion.

The lights in Doman’s house were still on, and Link could hear talking as he came up the driveway. And was that...a girl’s voice? Doman only had brothers. Well, he’d find out in a minute, he thought as he knocked.

“Who in Hyrule could that--” the door swung open, and Doman’s younger brother, stopped short. “Link! Hey, it’s Link!”

 _“Link!”_ the female voice turned out to be Ania; she sprung out of her seat and ran forward to hug him, and then punched him on the arm.

“Ow--” Link started, but was cut off by her shout of _“Why don’t you check your messages?!?!”_

Oh. Right. He guessed he should have stopped by a magiscreen on the way back and let his friends know he was alive or whatever. He’d just been so tired...it hadn’t even occurred to him. “I’m really sorry,” he said into Ania’s shoulder. “It’s an _extremely_ long story.”

“Yeah, I would love to hear about whoever you’ve been murdering lately,” said a familiar voice, and Link broke free of Ania’s hug and grinned like an idiot. “That’s an impressive amount of blood on you, brother.”

Doman was lying on an enormous pullout couch in the corner, looking completely fine. Link crossed the room and clapped him on the shoulder. “You’re not too far off. But you’re...you’re all right?”

“I am now. You sure missed a crazy afternoon, though. Well, they all say it was crazy, but I don’t remember much of it. The Visitor’s Center got attacked, so I got to spend today sleeping while everyone else freaked out. And then we all woke up and no one knows why. What have you been up to? You look half-dead.”

“We were worried you _were_ dead!” said Ania, rounding on him again. “We were going to call the police if you didn’t show up in school tomorrow! And--wait--is that a _sword?_ I... _what?”_

“Uh,” said Link. “Hey--” He looked up at Doman’s brothers--”Do you mind leaving us for a minute?”

They looked confused, but complied. “Glad you’re okay,” said Doman’s older brother as they left. “Let Doman get some sleep soon, alright?”

The door closed. Link dropped his sword and shield and sat on the arm of the couch with a sigh. Ania sat on the opposite arm. “You guys can’t tell anyone about this.”

“Of course,” they said, and Link knew he could take them for their word. The three of them had been friends nearly their entire lives.

“Uh,” said Link. “So.” It seemed impossible to know where to begin. “So I know why you and everyone else woke up. And I know why I’ve been having that nightmare.”

“I can already tell this is going to be a _very_ strange story,” said Doman.

Link thought of everything he’d done that day, and threw his head back in laughter. “You have _no_ idea.”

  


It was different telling the story a second time. Being in Doman’s house was so familiar, so ordinary, that it made him realize just how _bizarre_ his life had become. He hardly believed his own words. His friends listened silently and with wide eyes. Link wished he could tell what they were thinking.

He ended with his goodbye to Zelda and boarding of the train. The room was dead quiet for another moment, and then Doman half-sat up. “This is for real, right? You aren’t joking?”

Link held out his hand and _called._

Introducing them to Aerra would have been a much less _showy_ proof, but she’d fallen asleep in his pocket at some point and he didn’t want to disturb her. And okay, he’d admit it, being dramatic about it had its appeal.

He didn’t want to light up the whole house, so he’d tried to summon...less of it? Be gentler about it? He didn’t quite know what to call it, but the result was the Triforce mark appearing on his hand and flashing once, faintly, before vanishing.

There was a tight-stretched silence, and then Ania scowled. “This is so _stupid!”_

Link’s jaw dropped. “What?”

“No no, not like you being the hero and everything, that is extremely cool, but. Historians have been wondering for ages whether the Triforce is real, and you just waltz in like ‘yup, here it is.’ That’s so _cheap!_ I’m going to have to change my entire argument, and I won’t be able to use the only proof there is!”

Doman laughed. “Your argument is that the Triforce was an ordinary magical artifact that was inflated to something all-powerful and divine through the legends, right? That could still be true. Link, do you even really know what that thing can do?”

Link rubbed his hand. “Not really, no,” he admitted. “It opened the door to the tunnels and it can sense other Triforce pieces, but that’s really all I’ve got. You think the Triforce isn’t divine? Farore didn’t choose me?”

“All I’m saying is that we don’t really know anything for certain.”

Link sighed. “It would be nice to think that someone out there knows I can do this. I feel so overwhelmed and, well. Kinda scared.”

Ania put a hand on his shoulder. “Hey, we know you can do this.”

He smiled. “Thank you, but unlike gods, you guys don’t know the future.”

“You killed that giant Keese thing, right?” said Doman. “So you’ve got the hero-ing stuff, I’d say. Good at stabbing things.”

“I feel like Princess Zelda did a ton of the work there, though.”

“Oh, that’s right!” Doman exclaimed. “You met the princess! What is she like?”

Link began blushing again. “Really nice. Talks a lot. Just like...genuine. Really good shot. I don’t know.”

“Your face is so red right now,” said Ania wickedly.

“So are you guys friends or what?”

“I don’t know,” Link said to Doman. “If things were difFerent I think maybe we would be, but I mean...she’s a _princess._ I thought we got along pretty well? Except I was acting like an awkward idiot the whole time because I don’t know how to talk to princesses.”

Ania’s evil grin widened. “You’re stiiiiill blushing.”

“It’s been a really long day, all right? Let me be embarrassed without repercussions.”

Doman yawned. “It _has_ been a long day. Considering I have been asleep for quite a lot of it, you would think I wouldn’t be tired. But there we are.”

“Yes, we should definitely head out soon,” said Ania. “Link, you said you were going to Zora Grotto and Goron City?”

He nodded.

“I have cousins in Goron City,” said Doman. “I think you met them when they visited a few summers ago. You should say hi if you ever come across them, brother.”

Link had indeed met them. They were pretty nice. “I will.”

“You can check exactly how to get there on a magiscreen map,” said Ania. “But it’s not that hard to travel to either place. Are you leaving tomorrow?”

He hadn’t thought about it. “I--I guess, yeah. Probably.”

“Then you should _definitely_ go home and get some sleep.” The Zora girl stood. “It sucks, because I am really not done talking about this, but we’ll have to do it later. Goodnight, Doman. Are you going to be in school tomorrow?”

Doman grinned. “Not if I can possibly get out of it.”

“Well, you deserve a day off. I’ll drop by afterwards, okay?”

“Sounds good. Goodnight, guys.”

Link stood and strapped all his gear back on. “Goodnight!”

“Hey, Link.”

He turned. “What?”

“Thanks for freeing my soul from fueling an evil spell possibly meant to doom all of Hyrule.”

Link laughed. “Any time.”

  


He barely remembered his goodbye to Ania and the walk home. Talking with his friends had energized him, but now his exhaustion hit him full force. It really felt like his legs were going to drop off. Aerra was still asleep, so he didn’t even have her company to keep him awake.

He staggered up the walkway to his door, dropped his things, and went straight to his bedroom. He shucked off his ruined clothes (after carefully removing Aerra from his pocket and putting her on the side of his pillow), collapsed on his bed, and was asleep in minutes.

He did not dream.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I can't believe it took me six freaking chapters to so much as mention Azaren's name. Can't wait for you guys to meet him, but that'll still be a little while.
> 
> Also, this will become clear later in the story, but in case anyone is confused now, the Zora no longer live in Zora's Domain. They live somewhere called the Zora Grotto, which is close to Lake Hylia in the south.
> 
> And ugh, school is being awful and I'm tearing through my backlog like no one's business. I'm down to being only one chapter ahead. This week I have a presentation, a midterm, and my Symphony of the Goddesses concert (!!!) so no time to write BUT after it's all over, I am going to try my darndest to get a whole bunch done. I'd much rather be writing, but y'know. Gotta pass my classes and all that.


	7. Great Fairy Fountain

Link woke up just past noon, far later than he’d meant to. He dragged his sore body out of bed, showered, dressed, ate, and packed a bag. It was going to be another long day, but at least it would be spent traveling, not fighting tons and tons of monsters. Or sitting in school, which was possibly worse.

The first thing he had to do was bring Aerra home. She had told him that her fairy fountain was near the base of Death Mountain, on the way to Goron City. He would have to walk instead of taking the train, since the place was rather off the beaten path, but he was alright with that. It did mean he wouldn’t get to Goron City until it was dark, so he’d lost the whole day, but it wasn’t like he had much of a choice.

He took the local train to the Ruins again, then went past them, towards the outer wall. He had never left Castle Town on foot like this. The monsters that roamed Hyrule Field made it too dangerous. But now, he thought with a smile, he was a little dangerous himself.

It was a beautiful autumn day; the sky was a pale blue streaked with clouds, the sun shone softly overhead, and breezes ruffled Link’s clothes. Hyrule Field stretched out before him in shades of green and orange and yellow and brown, the river cutting a bluish-gray stripe near the horizon, Death Mountain rising faintly behind it.

Yes, _definitely_ better than school.

“You said near the river, right?” he asked Aerra.

“Yes, between there and the base of the mountain.” She took a deep breath. “Do you...do you think my family will be there?”

Link’s heart twisted for her. “I don’t know.”

They set out, heading towards the extremely visible landmark of Death Mountain. Deku Babas popped out here and there, but they weren’t much of a problem for Link anymore. What were really annoying were the Guays, fierce black birds who kept dive-bombing him. But he ignored them as best as he could and pressed onwards. The grass reached his waist in areas and he had to cut it with his sword to get comfortably past, which led him to realize how much fun slashing at the grass was and caused some small detours and delays.

The biggest of these was when he saw something brightly colored in the grass, went over to check it out...and then ran for his life as it rose spinning from the ground and attacked him. Once they were safe Aerra laughed at him for a couple minutes straight, and then told him that the thing was another type of living flower called a Peahat and _yes,_ they were dangerous.

About a half hour in, they came across the train tracks on their curving, roundabout way to Kakariko Village. As he crossed over them, without a single person in sight and the sun shining overhead, Link felt very much like he’d stepped into an adventure book. It was hard to remember that he was only here in the first place to try and stop some great danger.

They kept walking. Link dug out some crackers and water from his bag, and he and Aerra ate in comfortable silence until they reached the river. There were several stones breaking the surface of the water which he used as a bridge of sorts.

“We’re really close,” said Aerra once they had crossed. “I know where we are. My home is closer to the mountain, on top of a hill, but the way in is secret. I’ll show you!”

The secret ended up being a hole hidden under a bush that Link cleared away with his sword. It went straight down--no slope or anything, just a drop.

“Okay, let’s go!” Aerra said excitedly. She didn’t move from his pocket, clearly expecting Link to take her down.

Link peered nervously into the black depths. “Uh...you know I can’t fly like you, right? I’ll probably die if I jump in there.”

She sighed. “It’s a Fairy Fountain, it’s _meant_ for adventurers to visit so they can rest. Just go, it’ll be okay.”

He gave her a skeptical look, but straightened up and braced himself. “I’m trusting you,” he said, and jumped.

He fell straight down for a few terrifying seconds, but then a golden light shone around him, slowing him until he floated gently to the ground. He was standing in a dark room, faint torchlight shimmering on water somewhere by the far wall. Aerra’s gasp sounded in his ear right before he heard footsteps and growls coming closer, and he grabbed his sword just as something leaped at him.

It crashed into his chest, teeth tearing at his side, and he staggered backwards with a cry. He punched outwards with his free hand, throwing it off him. It was lighter and smaller than he expected, about half his size. It snarled, and he could hear something hard scrabbling on the floor. He went to grab his shield, but before he reached it something sharp latched onto his arm, yanking it down. He pulled himself free and stabbed outwards, his mind racing. There was no way the thing could have gotten back to him this quickly--there had to be another one, maybe more. He wished he could _see!_ He didn’t dare put away his sword, and he really needed his shield here, so he would have to make do without the torch.

A dark shape rushed towards his feet, and he jumped over it just in time, spinning around as he landed to strike out at a loud howl to his left. It connected, and he felt something fly away from him. He finally managed to grab his shield, and swung it up to catch one of the things as it jumped at him. He followed it with a long, sweeping blow, his sword hitting multiple bodies.

He took the few seconds’ rest that gave him to scramble back towards the wall. It was so easy for them to sneak up on him in the dark--he needed something at his back. He could just barely make out three small, wiry bodies charging towards him, and he readied himself before striking out. One of the things screeched and toppled over, and a few quick strikes at a second one brought it down as well. The third had managed to rake claws down his leg while he fought. He kicked it off and lunged forward. His shield slipped out of his blood-slick fingers as he swung, but the blow hit, and the thing screeched. It scrambled towards him, and he frantically kicked the fallen shield at it. The thing tripped and slammed down hard on the floor. Link moved like lightning, striking at it before it could get up, and at last it gave an ear-rending scream and did not move again.

Link half-fell against the wall and slid down, gasping in pain. His shirt rustled as Aerra fluttered out of his pocket, and he heard her cry out in the darkness. His thoughts were finally catching up to him, and he remembered that this was her _home,_ that he had expected the place to be deserted at the very worst, not monster-infested.

“Those were Bokoblins,” she said, thin voice trembling. “They’re not supposed to be able to get in here. This place is supposed to be _safe!”_

He didn’t have the breath to speak, and he had no idea what to say anyway. He slowly reached into his bag and took out the torch, clicking it on. The bodies of the things he’d fought had already crumbled into dust; he had no idea what they looked like or even what they really were. Aerra turned to face him, and Link suddenly noticed the tears shining on her cheeks.

“I’m so sorry,” he said.

Her shoulders shook as she hovered in the air, seemingly unable to move. Link reached out with an unsteady hand, heart breaking at the sound of her sobs. “What h--happened to them, Link? Where are they?”

“I don’t know. But I’ll find them. I’ll find out exactly what happened here, I promise.”

Aerra landed on his palm and hugged his thumb desperately as she cried.

“You’ll be okay,” Link said gently. “You’re gonna be okay.”

“Where’s my _mom?_ Where are all my aunts and my friends? I’m never gonna see them again.” She sobbed out the words in a broken voice, and Link murmured comforting words to her, feeling useless because words were all he could give.

They sat there like that for a few moments, Link trying to hide how much his bites and cuts hurt. _The woman who attacked this place, he thought to distract himself. She was trying to break down the spell that guarded the entrance to the castle. And she chased out the fairies...what is she trying to do? Destroy the old magic that protects Hyrule? Did she want the fairies’ essences or something? Is that even a thing?_

He really needed to find more, and soon.

The bite on his right arm flared up suddenly, and a hiss escaped his mouth before he could stop it. Aerra let go of his thumb and looked up. “Oh,” she said shakily, tears still in her eyes. “You’re hurt. I’m sorry.”

“It’s okay,” he said. “Is it alright if you get off of me so I can use that bottled fairy, though?”

She jumped off his hand and floated over to the fountain. “Maybe you don’t need to. Maybe I can do it.”

Link slowly, carefully, levered himself to his feet. “What do you mean?”

She hovered inches above the water. “A Great Fairy can use fountains to heal. I’ve never done it by myself so I don’t know if it’ll work. Come over here and I’ll try.”

He crossed the cave. Aerra and the dying torches on the walls lit up the area the tiniest bit, so he could just see where he was going. He stopped right before the white marble stairs that went down to the fountain. The little fairy took a deep breath, then flipped over in the air and dove into the water.

It was silent for a few seconds, and then the fountain blazed with light, casting shimmering colors on the walls. Aerra burst out of the water, trailing sparks. She hovered in the air in front of him, arms spread wide, and Link began shining with the same light as the fountain. He gasped and looked at his hands as his cuts and scrapes closed--and, crazy enough, his clothes repaired themselves as well. He grinned at Aerra as the light from his body dimmed, leaving him free of pain and exhaustion.

The fountain was still glowing in its rainbow of colors, lighting the cave at last. Link could see pillars rising out of the water, tile mosaics on the walls, and intricately carved marble statues. He had never seen anything so otherworldly and peaceful in his life. “Aerra, it’s _beautiful.”_

“I turned it back on!” she said, beaming. “It looks...it looks like home again.” She spun around, so fast it made Link dizzy. “I was so scared I would never see this again.”

“Aerra,” he said, looking her straight in the eye, with the determination and energy that he could not muster up before, “I _will_ find out what happened to your family. I _will_ bring them home to you. If it is at all possible, I will do it.”

He was scared that it _wouldn’t_ be possible, that they were all dead. He was scared that they could go through all this just for Aerra to find out she would never see her family again. But...they had to find out. They had to be sure.

She landed gently on his shoulder. “Thank you,” she said. “But I want to come too. I want to help you more. I can look for my family too. You don’t have to do it by yourself.”

Link smiled, surprised at how glad he was to hear her say it. “Thank you. I will definitely appreciate your help.”

Aerra nodded, looked around the fountain, sighed. “I think...I think we can go now.”

“Are you sure?”

She went back in his pocket. “Yeah. We need to get to Kakariko soon, right?”

Link strapped his shield back on his back, and sheathed his sword. “Can I use the fountain to wash the blood off my arms and stuff? Is that alright?”

She left his shoulder and smiled. “That’s part of what it’s _for.”_

He knelt before the steps and rolled up his sleeves and pant legs. The water was cool and soothing, washing the blood off easily. He guessed being the hero meant being injured constantly, which sucked, but there you were. Maybe he’d become a better fighter as time went on.

He splashed his face and stood, holding his pocket open for Aerra. She gave the fountain one last look, then settled in.

Link stood on the spot where he’d landed earlier on the cave floor, and the light suffused him, bringing him back into the warm, bright day.

  


Kakariko Village stood partway up Death Mountain, a small cheerful town with a storied history. It was late afternoon when Link and Aerra walked past its welcoming sign, buildings and streets striped dark with shadows and gold with dying sunlight. They really had lost the whole day. Link wasn’t even sure when the gondola stopped running, and he hoped he would be able to reach Goron City before it got dark.

He could see the cables of the gondola trailing up the mountain. He made his way towards them, passing brightly-colored shops and houses. People stared at him, and he couldn’t understand why until he remembered the sword and shield he carried. He tried his best to ignore them. If it were him, he probably would be staring too. Eventually he stopped and put the sword in his backpack and wrestled with the shield for a few moments until he finally admitted to himself it wouldn’t fit, and kept walking

It turned out that finding his way through a town he only been to a few times was not actually very easy, so he stopped by a magiscreen and pulled up its map. He checked his messages while he was at it, winced at the six panicked ones Ania had sent him last night, smiled at the good luck wishes from Ania and Doman dated this morning, and stared for a moment at the newest one, from an unknown sender.

 _Hey Link,_ it read,

_This is Zelda. Uh, I trust you won’t give this address to anyone, so, you know. Don’t give this address to anyone. I just felt we should have some way to keep in touch while you’re traveling._

_Nothing else is new by me. Dad confined me to the palace ground for the next few days because I snuck out. I’ve got guards on me constantly which is super annoying, but oh well. Also, he gave the spheres to some scientists but they won’t be done looking at them for a while. We had to tell a few of our top-ranked guards about the tunnels, so we could have people posted in there in case anyone who was involved came back. So far they’ve found nothing, but who knows what’ll happen._

_You’ll probably be passing through Kakariko Village, so I thought I should tell you to check out the Milk Bar. It’s the biggest restaurant in town, so there’ll be lots of people there to talk to about, you know, current events. Keep an ear to the ground (and try their omelets, they’re amazing, if that’s your sort of thing). Anyway, hope you and Aerra are doing alright. Tell her hi. Best of luck with everything!_

_Wish I was there with you. Stay safe._

_-Zelda_

He smiled. It was nice to know Zelda was thinking of him. Still pretty weird, but nice. “Princess Zelda says hey,” he told Aerra.

“Hi Zelda! Are you gonna write her back, Link?”

He shoved his hands in his pockets. “We should get to the gondola first. I don’t want to get stuck here overnight. We’ll have to check out the that restaurant some other time.”

  


So of course, half an hour later found him sitting in the Milk Bar, waiting for his omelet. He sighed, stretched out in his chair, and tried to resign himself to the situation. He wouldn’t get to Goron City until tomorrow afternoon, maybe even after it was already dark if he got a late start. Of all the times for the gondola to be out of order!

He would eat dinner, find a cheap motel, sleep, wake up _early,_ check if the gondola had reopened, and if it wasn’t, start hiking straight up Death Mountain. It would be a long slog, but there was really nothing to be done about it. He had to get to Goron City.

He tried to think about something else. This was just making him irritated. He looked around the restaurant, all warm light and dark wood and bright fabric, piano music floating from a low stage on the far side of the room. So...he was just supposed to eavesdrop on people or whatever? And hope they talked about something relevant?

He closed his eyes and listened. It was hard to catch much because of the noise, but he managed to hear more than one conversation about the gondola--apparently it _had_ been an attack, a massive one that had struck dozens of Gorons. Perhaps because the scale of the event had created too many variables, a few of the Gorons had managed to see the attacker and escape, and this created more mysteries than it solved. It was a woman, visibly not Hylian or Zora or Gerudo or anything anyone could recognize. She was described as having bluish skin and hair, with eyes that somehow glowed--and Link heard Aerra gasp from his pocket. They mentioned how the Castle Town victims had all mysteriously woken up, and couldn’t help grinning as a warm wave of pride washed over him.

As he ate his omelet--Zelda had been right, it was pretty good--the two people sitting to his left touched on recent events in Gerudo Valley. He barely dared to breathe as he listened as hard as he could. A royalist demonstration had turned violent, and resulted in the destruction of several shops and businesses, and the arrest of nearly half the attendees.

“It wasn’t Azaren’s first time in jail, and it won’t be the last,” said one of them darkly. “Not until he has the throne or the entire country is up in flames.”

“It won’t come to that. The Assembly is going to have to take action soon,” said the other. "People have _died_ before in the riots they've caused." Link casually held a forkful of omelet near his pocket so Aerra could grab it.

“You never know. Azaren’s got a lot of supporters. And his girlfriend’s the daughter of an Assemblywoman, isn’t she?”

“Huh, so you think the government wouldn’t dare act against them?”

The first man sighed. “Well...it’s complicated. We’re not sure if she’s actually a royalist. She’s never at any of the protests or events.”

“Well, then that’s got to be awkward for Azaren,” the other man laughed.

His friend shrugged. “I say she’s got the right idea. You’d think all this violence and killing would turn people off, but the royalists are growing larger every day.”

The conversation turned elsewhere, and Link’s omelet and glass of milk were long gone, so he slid off his chair, threw out his plate and cup, and left.

“That wasn’t so useful,” said Aerra. “They never said if Azaren wanted to take the Triforce.”

“I don’t know why a random person in Kakariko would even know that. Anything we learn is good, I guess.”

“He has a girlfriend--if a girl loves him he can’t be that bad, right?”

Link laughed. “I don’t think that’s quite how it works. It’s funny how she might not be a royalist though.” He vaguely remembered seeing a few pictographs of her in the news--a tall girl with thick red Gerudo hair, holding Azaren’s hand and smiling.

She nodded, then paused. “Link...if there were attacks in Goron City, do you think the great fairies of Death Mountain are gone too?”

He sighed. “I don’t know. But probably. I’m sorry.”

“...Thanks,” came the quiet voice from inside his pocket. “I...Link, I miss them. My family.”

Link paused as he thought of what he could possibly say. “I’m sorry. I bet you do,” was all he could come up with. “The...the woman they mentioned. Who did the Goron City attack. You recognized her description?”

“Yes,” said Aerra in that same small, sad voice. “She’s the one who destroyed my home. Or someone who looks like her. I never got to see her face too well.”

“You could have mentioned she was all blue,” said Link a fraction of a second before realizing that wasn’t the most sensitive response possible.

“I’m sorry...I just...I didn’t really want to talk about it.”

Link felt a twinge of guilt. “Of course. I understand.” He was burning with curiosity, but he guessed he would have to wait until he investigated himself to find out anything more. It wasn’t likely Aerra had any more useful information anyway, if she’d just gotten a glimpse of the woman.

It was only starting to get dark and Link wanted to cheer Aerra up, so he wandered down to the large square in the middle of town to see if there was anything fun to do. It was mostly souvenir shops and convenience stores, but he did find a little shooting gallery that used old-fashioned slingshots. He won Aerra a stuffed horse that was as big as she was, and kept playing until he got the grand prize--one of the slingshots to keep. He’d been on the lookout for some sort of ranged weapon he could use. Without Zelda’s help Feren would have killed him for sure, and he wanted to make sure he was never in that kind of situation again.

With that done, he wandered around for a bit more, going in and out of shops. There was an antiques store that had a bottle for sale, which meant being able to carry multiple potions or fairies, but it was expensive. Probably more money than Link’s wallet could even hold. Maybe he would find more rupees as he traveled, but for now he had to leave it.

When it got late and Aerra was yawning he got a room at the nearest hotel, dropped his stuff, and flopped on the bed. He got into pajamas, watched a movie on the room’s tiny screen with Aerra, and when the little fairy fell asleep he watched another one that involved fewer singalongs and more explosions.

Before that movie was through, he was asleep as well.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Fairies don't age like humans do, but mentally Aerra is about six or seven.


	8. Goron City

He’d forgotten to set an alarm, but the motel room’s bed was so stiff and lumpy that he woke early, Aerra curled up and snoring on her stuffed animal’s stomach and the sun shining persistently through the blinds. He rolled out of bed and showered and dressed quietly so as not to disturb her. He remembered that he had never replied to his messages, so he updated Ania, Doman, and Zelda while he ate a bag of dry cereal he’d brought from home.

After that, he figured he couldn’t really delay any longer, so he woke Aerra and checked out of the motel. They walked to the gondola station in silence, too groggy to talk much. Link stopped at a supermarket and bought some water bottles, fruit, and premade sandwiches.

The gondola was still closed, because of course it was. Goron City had to be doing pretty badly. Link was suddenly filled with urgency--he had to get up there and help. He wondered what the essences were being used for this time.

The path up Death Mountain was winding, steep, and littered with monsters. Notices warning of danger stood at the path’s gate. Link paid attention to them only to duck behind one so he could pull his sword out of his backpack.

It was a chilly morning, and he was glad of the exercise. It really was a hike rather than a walk. Link was practically climbing up boulders at times.

He met his first monster, a red spindly thing Aerra called a Tektite, when it scuttled towards him and tried to knock him off a ledge. The fairy’s warning alerted him just in time, and he sidestepped it and used his shield to push it off instead. After that, it seemed the floodgates had opened, and he couldn’t walk ten feet without being assailed by a Guay or Bokoblin or Tektite. At least the slingshot made easy work of them--especially the airborne Guays.

“More Bokoblins…” Aerra had said worriedly when Link killed his first one. “There aren’t supposed to be any up here. Guays and Babas and those things are wild, but Bokoblins are bad. They’re full of dark magic. They’re _not supposed to be here.”_

The monsters and the uneven terrain made it slow going, especially since there were so many little side paths that it was hard at times to tell where he was even supposed to go. He would ordinarily love exploring, finding all the hidden passageways and caves in the mountain, but he just kept thinking about the spell that was being crafted with Goron souls at this very moment. He needed to stop it before it was finished. Every time he hit a dead end he felt his frustration grow. Sometimes the detours held treasure at the end--rupees or more ammunition for his slingshot--which helped his mood a little, but not much.

At the end of a particularly long and dangerous side trail, he _did_ find a wooden chest with a floating heart much like the one Feren had dropped, but smaller and simpler-looking. Aerra explained that it gave him life energy as well, but less of it. Four smaller pieces were worth one big one. Link took the heart piece, sighing with relief as all his small cuts and scrapes disappeared. He felt just a little bit stronger as he backtracked down the rocky cliff he’d climbed to get there, going back onto the main path.

He saw platforms up on high, too far away for him to reach. He could see a chest on one of them, and wondered how on earth he could get up there. There were some promising rock outcroppings halfway between the path and the closest platform, but he couldn’t reach the lowest one if he jumped. Well, he’d have to come back and figure it out when things were less urgent.

When his stomach started growling he found the nearest flat area, sat, and ate lunch, cutting off a tiny piece off his tuna salad sandwich for Aerra. The day had grown warmer, especially since the mountain trail was so exposed to the sun, but still held some of its chill. The world was all blue sky and red mountain rock and brown shrubs, and not even the occasional monster that he had to shoo away with his slingshot could really break through the peaceful mood.

A full stomach made the rest of the journey easy, and in only an hour or two the path evened out onto a large shelf cut into the mountainside. On the far end of the platform was a large tunnel heading down and inside; above it were carved the words _Goron City_ in a thick, imposing script.

There was a Goron leaning against the wall, flicking through a newspaper. Link figured he should ask him what was going on in there, and sidled up awkwardly. “Excuse me, sir?”

The Goron looked at him and started. “How’d you get up here, brother?”

Link rubbed his temple awkwardly. “Hiked. I...I heard what happened, and I want to try and help.”

That got a laugh out of the Goron. “Sorry to be rude, but I don’t think there’s much you can do. Let the actual police play policeman.”

He wondered if he should say that he’d been the one who had saved all the Castle Town victims, but figured he would never be believed. “It’s just, my friend has family here and he told me to check up on them,” he tried. It _was_ true.

The Goron looked at him with new interest. “Really? Who’s your friend?”

“Doman, from Castle Town.”

“Ah,” said the Goron. “He’s got an uncle and three cousins here, right? They are all fine. And it’s one heck of a story, brother.”

“Really?” Link asked, leaning forward. “What happened?”

The Goron scratched his head. “Well, the attack happened yesterday morning. Everyone was already at work or school. The attacker went straight for the really crowded areas, like stores and the town square...and then she headed towards the school. But when she tried to get in, a strange girl ran towards her and started to fight. She managed to draw the woman away but, well, she paid for it. She’s down in the hospital with the rest of the victims.”

Link felt a strong wave of admiration for this girl, and a new resolve to break the spell. “She came out of nowhere? Did anyone find out who she is?”

The Goron frowned thoughtfully. “People have been saying she was from far to the west, passing through. She’d been staying at the Elder’s house overnight.”

“Elder Goramin? Did he know her before?”

“I dunno kid, I’m not his personal assistant. Go talk to him if you’re that curious.” The Goron ruffled his newspaper back open. Link took the hint, thanked him, and crossed the little plaza.

The floor just outside and in the tunnel was tiled in warm, earthy colors. Link could hear rumbling voices and the unmistakable sound of Gorons rolling. He entered the city, admiring the murals of historical Goron figures painted on the sides of the tunnel.

He came out onto a high ledge, and stopped short to gape at the view. He’d known that Goron City was basically just a hole in the mountain, a deep winding canyon with buildings carved into the walls, but it was another thing to see the city spread below his feet. There were banners and pennants strung from lampposts and the air smelled like Goron street food, clay-like and rich. “Aerra, look,” he said to his pocket.

The little fairy poked her head out. “Wow,” she said. “It’s pretty!”

“We should probably find the hospital first,” Link said, half to himself. “I want to hear more about that girl. And it should be a good place to get information on the attacks here.”

“Find one of those screen things,” Aerra suggested.

As Link went further down the spiraling path, he noticed there were far more policemen walking around than he normally saw back at home. Several buildings were blocked off with crime tape. He stopped a few of the officers and asked them what was going on, but they weren’t very willing to give any info to a random teenaged Hylian. Link hoped people at the hospital would be more talkative.

He found a screen set into the stone wall, and saw that he was actually pretty close to the hospital. Zelda, Ania and Doman had messaged him again but he ignored them, eager to just get to the hospital. He’d had such stupid half-formed hopes of being in and out of Goron City half a day after leaving Castle Town.

The Death Mountain Free Hospital was small, reflecting the city’s population. The waiting room was packed, worried Gorons filling nearly every chair and milling around the room, and it hit Link all over again just how _big_ this attack had been. He weaved through the crowd, wondering who to talk to first and what he could possibly say. Now that he was here, he realized he didn’t want to bother these people while they were shell-shocked and scared for their loved ones.

And then he felt a hand on his shoulder, and twisted around to see an enormous Goron standing behind him. Link recognized him immediately, and bowed in respect. “Elder Goramin!” _That’s two world leaders I’ve met in three days,_ he thought, almost amused. “Elder” was only a title--Goramin was a young adult, only elected a few years ago.

“Excuse me for asking, brother, but are you Impa’s friend?”

Link stared for a moment, taken aback. “I...I don’t know anyone by that name, sorry.”

The Goron elder looked crestfallen. “Ah. I’m sorry to bother you, then. You just matched the description exactly. She asked me if I’d seen a Hylian boy in green, with a sword and shield. I figured there couldn’t be more than one person walking around nowadays carrying that sort of thing. Is there some sort of...fantasy convention down the mountain this week?”

Well. So much for staying incognito. How had this Impa _known?_ “I think I’m the one you’re looking for, after all. I’m Link.”

Goramin shook his hand. “Hm, are you? Nice to meet you, Link. What brings you here in this troubled time?”

“I heard what happened and I’d like to help,” he said. He probably shouldn’t say anything about hero-ing and the Triforce unless he had to. “Can you tell me exactly what’s going on? Who’s Impa? How does she know who I am?”

“I wish I could tell you,” Goramin said. “Impa was struck down in the recent attacks. She saved our children without being asked, without even thinking twice. I never got the chance to talk to her much. She only came to town two days ago. All I knew was she was on her way to Castle Town so she could meet the princess.”

Link shifted on his feet. He wondered if everyone else in the room could hear them, and if it mattered if they could. “Meet with the princess? Why? Does she know her?”

Goramin paused, looking thoughtful. “Well...do you know of the Sheikah tribe?”

“They were sworn to protect the royal family, right? But they’re _ancient._ I thought they had all died out.”

The elder nodded. “So I thought, too. But Impa really looks like one, or at least how they are described in tales.”

Link could believe that; weirder things had happened lately. “Like, she has red eyes?”

“Yes, and tattoos of Sheikah symbols.” Goramin paused. “You know what, brother, let’s move upstairs. I came here to visit Impa anyway, and you should see her. And I’d like to have somewhere more private to talk.”

Link nodded, Goramin got them waved past hospital security, and they walked down the hallway and into the elevator. When the door closed, the Goron turned to him and said, “So, are you the hero, or what?”

He flinched backwards. “How--how did you--”

“Hah!” Goramin laughed. “Lucky guess. But, come on. You’re all in green, and a Sheikah knew to expect you? At the same time there have been attacks all over Hyrule, carried out by something inhuman? And at the same time dark magic creatures have appeared on my mountain? And at the same time there’s been unrest in the Gerudo Desert?”

Link shrugged, scuffed the floor self-consciously with one sneaker. “Well, I mean, anyone can wear green.”

“To be honest, brother,” said Goramin, “You basically told me yourself when you said you were the one Impa was looking for. You knew _she_ knew who you are.”

He smiled ruefully. “Fair enough. Could you please not tell anyone, though? I’m trying to keep this as much of a secret as possible.”

The elevator doors swung open, and Goramin led him down the new hallway. “Of course,” he said. “But may I ask exactly what it is you came here to do?”

“To help, like I said. I was partly responsible for the Castle Town victims’ recovery, and I’d like to do the same here.”

Goramin nodded. “It’s apparently an attempt to harvest people’s essences for power. I received word from King Ersten yesterday.”

Link was glad the king had sent warning to his fellow leaders. “Yeah, I know, I kinda--” he realized how full of himself he was sounding, and blushed--”I kinda helped find that out for him. But we don’t know who’s doing this and why.”

“I don’t think I can help you much there, sorry,” said Goramin as he turned into an open door. Link followed, eager to get a glimpse of this brave girl.

He was surprised to see the room was full of patients--he guessed they were keeping all of the victims together. Rows of beds filled with motionless bodies lined both walls. It almost seemed more like a morgue than a hospital room, Link thought, and shivered.

Goramin stopped by a bed near the door, and beckoned Link over. “You’d think there would be more people up here,” Link said softly. It didn’t seem right to speak loudly.

“It isn’t visiting hours,” said the Goron. “But, well, being Elder has its perks sometimes. I’ve been up here a little more than I care to admit...I have a young son, you know. Impa sacrificed herself to save him, and the rest of our children.”

Link leaned forward to look at the girl in the bed. She certainly _looked_ like a Sheikah, with her dark tan skin and white hair, and the white tattoos below her eyes. She was short and stocky, and wore a necklace featuring the eye-and-teardrop symbol of the Sheikah. Link inclined his head to her in respect.

“If I can do something, anything at all to restore her soul...let me help you however I can, Link. It’s the very least I can do for her.”

Link nodded again, and looked up earnestly at Goramin. “Thank you.”

  


The Goron elder _did_ have some useful things to tell him, in the end. One eyewitness had seen the strange woman running towards the far side of the mountain, and police who had been sent this morning to investigate the area had not yet reported back. “There’s nothing out there but wilderness,” said Goramin. “She must have hidden inside one of the caves on the mountainside, or in the canyon nearby. From what King Ersten said happened in Castle Town, she must have a base nearby to house the spell apparatus.”

Link nodded. “What do you think she’s trying to do here? In Castle Town she was trying to break through the security spells on the castle. Do you have anything here that’s guarded by some powerful magic that she would need to break?”

Goramin shrugged his massive shoulders. “Goron City is so old. I don’t even know half of what this ancient mountain holds, brother. She could be trying to do any number of things.”

“If you had to guess, though. Is there anything protecting the Elder’s house, or any government building? Since she was trying to get into Hyrule Castle…”

“We’ve got security spells, but they’re, you know, modern. Ordinary. They were just put in ten, twenty years ago.”

Link scratched his back, under his shield strap. “It could be that. Where’s the power source of those?”

Goramin’s eyes flicked to the ceiling, thinking, then nodded. “It’s inside the mountain, on the west side...the same way the woman went. There are power sources for other spells in there too, since there’s so much space.”

“So you’re saying it’s a good place to start, then.”

“Yes,” said the Goron. “The entrance to the cavern where the spells are kept is in the Sandstone Canyon, just behind the mountain. But it’s, well, it’s going to be really hot. Death Mountain is a volcano, after all. You’ll need proper gear if you’re going in there.”

Link gestured with his head towards the door. “So, what are we waiting for? Every second I’m not doing anything is another second the victims are asleep.”

Goramin straightened up, nodded, looked at Impa. “You’re right. Let’s go.”

  


Things happened so quickly after that, Link could barely keep track. Goramin had work to do as the Elder, but he showed Link a workshop that dealt in heatproof equipment before hurrying back to his office. The place had nothing that would fit a Hylian--the smallest suit they had slid right off Link’s skinny shoulders--and an order for the materials to make a new one would take a few days to process. When Link asked desperately if there was anything he could do to get it faster, the shopkeeper told him he could go gather the materials himself, and would even give him a discount for his trouble.

Doing that took Link a couple hours and took him all over Death Mountain. There was a certain type of plant that grew by the path below the gondola, a type of cord used in most fabric spells that he had to grab from a store in town, and--hardest of all--dust taken from the top of Death Mountain, so close to the lip of the volcano that Link could _feel_ the heat, and had to scramble to collect as much of the stuff as he could before he had to run back to safety.

By the time he got back and handed over the materials (the suit would be ready the next morning) it was 6pm, which was about when Goramin had said he would be done for the day. He’d said they should meet at the workshop then, so Link hung around. He played around with a magiscreen nearby, inspecting the map of Goron City, watching a funny video about a cat, and writing his friends back. Doman was back in school and something of a minor celebrity, which annoyed him a little, but Ania had fielded everyone’s questions like a champ. People had asked where Link was, but they’d pretended they didn’t know, that Link had just told them he’d be away for a little while. They both missed him and hoped he would drop in to visit sometime soon.

Zelda offered her sympathies to Aerra about her home, and said that she’d told the king about what had happened. He’d said he would try to find out what he could, but it was hard to call a government or police investigation into the disappearance of fairies when fairies weren’t supposed to exist anymore.

She’d heard about the Goron City attack, and was worried at how they seemed to be growing in scale. She told him to stay safe.

She was glad he’d liked the omelet but judged him _severely_ for having peppers put in.

And then there was a message from his school, from the principal, saying he would be excused from school as long as he needed to be, but he would be fully expected to make up all the work he had missed.

Link made a face at the screen as he began to answer his friends.

Only a few minutes after he’d finished, Goramin returned and took him to his house, where he introduced Link to his son and fed them all dinner. (“It’s always wise for a leader to have food for _everyone_ in their home,” he said when Link raised a questioning eyebrow at the frozen pizza he served along with the rock stew.)

Afterwards Goramin sent his son off to do homework, and took out a map of the area. For the next hour or so he went over it with Link, showing him where the strange woman had been seen heading and where the entrance to the cavern was.

“It’s a bit of a process opening the door,” he said apologetically. “We didn’t want anyone wandering in there. And it’ll be harder for you, brother, since you’re a Hylian. The system was made for Gorons. You might not be able to reach some of the switches, but you can hit them with a thrown rock if you’ve got a good arm.”

Link just dug his slingshot out of his bag, and Goramin nodded and smiled. “Yes, that’ll do nicely.”

He showed Link where the all switches and doors were located. They were scattered all over the canyon. It would be a process, indeed. But he didn’t have to think about it until tomorrow, which was nice.

To his surprise, he realized he was ready for bed. It was barely 9pm, but he’d had a really long couple of days, and he’d have another long day tomorrow. He hoped there wouldn’t be another enormous monster guarding this spell too, but there probably would be.

 _I could really die doing this,_ he remembered, and the thought was sobering.

Goramin gave him the map to take with him the next day, and showed him to the guest room. It was where Impa had been staying, and her things were still scattered on the floor--a bright floral backpack, a guitar case, and a sweatshirt. Link thought it was weird that she’d taken a guitar with her on her urgent mission to see the princess, but he guessed some musicians hated going without their instruments that much. He wondered if he would be like that when he got better at guitar himself.

Looking at Impa’s belongings made him realize, _really_ realize, that she was a real person who had a life to lose. “I’ll help you,” he said quietly. “I will. I _have_ to.”

He got into pajamas, brushed his teeth in the bathroom down the hallway, and slept.

  


Goramin woke him up while his son was getting ready for school. Link dressed hurriedly, bleary-eyed and stiff from all the trekking and fighting he’d been doing lately. He ate more of the food he’d brought with him, waved goodbye to Goramin’s son as he left, and began getting his gear in order, rearranging things in his backpack so his weapons were easier to reach.

When Goramin came by his room again Link was tying his shoes, sword and shield strapped to his back and the slingshot on his belt. “Ready?” he asked.

Link finished his knot, stood up. “Yeah.”

“You remember how to go, brother?”

Link grabbed his backpack and followed Goramin into the hallway. “Out the back entrance to the city, away from Hyrule Field. Then along the path until the base of the mountain, I’ll see signs for the canyon from there.”

“Good, good.” He held the front door open for Link.

“Thank you so much for your hospitality,” said Link. “And all your help.”

Goramin smiled. “You’re helping me, and my city. I can’t thank you enough for your dedication.”

Link scratched his ear self-consciously. “I haven’t even done anything yet.”

“Being willing to help, just being the person who stands up and decides they’re going to do something, is the most important step.” He clapped a hand on Link’s shoulder. “I’m going up the mountain to work, and the workshop is down, so I’ll see you when all of this is over. May the Goddesses be with you, Link.”

“Thank you,” said Link, touched. “You too.”

  


The heatproof suit looked, well, it looked really _cool._ It was gray and full-body, with red magical threads running through the fabric, making it pulse slowly with light. The spell extended slightly all around the suit, which meant he could leave his hands and feet and head free, and that his wooden shield would be protected from burning as well. Link slid it over his clothes, and thanked the shopkeeper profusely for the rush job as he did up the snaps running down the sides.

He paid and walked down to the exit of Goron City set at the bottom of the winding main road. After a small paved tunnel he found himself on the mountainside once more, and he easily found the path that Goramin had shown him the previous night.

An hour’s walk and several scuffles with monsters later found him at the base of Death Mountain, a rocky plain stretching out before him. He could see the wide gash in the ground that was the Sandstone Canyon, and could even make out the glimmer of metal doors and switches. Link switched his sword out for his slingshot and descended into the canyon.

Several minutes later found him cursing Gorons and their overly complicated security systems. The canyon was cut into several smaller sections, and while Link figured the giant door with the fancy magical lock led into the cavern, he had no idea which of the many switches opened it, or even how to get to all of the switches. The place was a _maze._ His map helped, since all the switches were marked on it, but Goramin had never mentioned which of them did what. And if all that wasn’t enough, the place was crawling with monsters. It took less than ten minutes for Link to completely lose track of how many Tektites he’d killed.

But he slowly managed to get a feel for the place, remembering which switches opened which doors and which rooms went where. He pushed forward, opening more and more rooms until he found himself in a large square room with a huge button on the wall, and...something huddled in the center of the room. Something that unfolded feathered wings and pounced at Link.

“What is it _this_ time?” he yelled as he ducked and stabbed out at it.

Aerra stuck her head out of his pocket. “It’s called a Kargorok!”

It lifted itself into the air, and Link ducked as it swooped at him. “Okay, how do I kill it?”

“Um, stab it a lot?”

He snorted despite himself. “Thanks, Aerra.”

On its next dive, Link slammed his shield up into it, which did a fantastic job of stunning it long enough to get in a few hits. After that, it was just a matter of waiting until it attacked him from the air so he could repeat the process. It got one blow on him, its sharp claws digging into his side, but in the end Link drove his sword into its neck one last time, and it shuddered and faded away.

He sheathed his sword, checked his injuries, and pressed the button. Just like that. Like fighting a giant murderous bird was a _normal_ thing to happen.

There wasn’t time to think about things like that now. He had to find that spell apparatus. If it was even there. Maybe the strange woman would be there too. He had no idea if he wanted her to be there or not.

When he got back to the main door, he saw that it was now open. A stone-tiled hallway led into...darkness. He couldn’t make anything out. He would just have to go in himself and see.

He drew his sword, gave Aerra a nod, and walked through the door.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> "You know, Goramin, your security system is pretty awful. Anyone with patience and half a brain could figure it out eventually. It's almost like you guys don't actually want to keep anyone out, but that you knew the hero would come by one day and you wanted to give them a challenging yet possible puzzle to do." "UHHH I HAVE NO IDEA WHAT YOU'RE TALKING ABOUT."
> 
> But anyway, new dungeon omg finally.


	9. Inside the Sandstone Canyon

Link came into an enormous, circular cavern, six equally spaced doors set into the walls and lit by flickering magic light fixtures. To his surprise, it was cool inside. He guessed he’d need to go deeper down before he would need the suit. The room was empty except for a raised platform in the middle, and what looked like slightly bigger, more muscled Bokoblins.

“Uh, Aerra?” said Link, edging backwards and pointing at the monsters. They hadn’t seemed to notice him yet, which spoke reassuring volumes of their intelligence.

“Bulblins,” she said. “They’re related to Bokoblins but they’re harder to beat. That one back there’s got a bow, so look out.”

Link nodded, and got out his slingshot. “You think they’ve always been living down here?”

Aerra laughed; there was no humor in it. “Doubt it. Nice shot,” she added as Link took careful aim and hit the archer Bulblin in the stomach. “But look out!” The thing screeched and came for him, followed by the other two monsters. Link took out his sword.

They _were_ tougher than Bokoblins, and the non-archers had swords with a nasty reach, but Link defeated them soon enough, with only minor scratches. “I think I’m getting better at this,” he said to Aerra.

“Of course you are,” the fairy said. “You’re the hero. It’s in your blood. Or your soul or whatever.”

He sheathed his sword and began walking to the middle of the room. “You know, I still feel like a normal teenager.”

“You _are_ a normal teenager. You’re just also the hero.”

Link thought about that for a moment as he climbed the steps. The platform was circular like the room itself. Six pedestals placed in line with the six doors ringed the edges, and on top of each was a large, dull crystal.

“These can light up,” said Aerra, flying over to one of the crystals. “I wonder what you have to do in order to make them do it?”

Link rapped on one of them with his free hand; nothing happened. “Let’s find out, I guess.”

He went to the door directly across from the platform steps, and tried it. It slid open.

The room was long and thin, and made of the same red rock as the main cavern and the rest of the mountain. The door was set right before a ledge; the rest of the room was a pit that looked bottomless. Metal platforms moved slowly over the abyss, held up by what appeared to be nothing but was probably magic. Link could see a ledge similar to the one he was standing on at the far end, and on it stood a pedestal like the ones that held the crystals in the center room. There were moving spots of light in the distance. Link couldn’t tell what they were.

He took a deep breath and stepped onto the closest platform as it passed, one arm nervously held out for balance. He slowly lowered it as it became clear that it was perfectly sturdy. He moved past another platform, but not close enough to step onto, and Link had to wait another go-around until he’d worked up the courage to jump. There was a moment of panic as he flew over nothing, and then he was safely on the other platform.

He made his way across like that. The glowing specks ended up being monsters--Keese that were on fire. One nearly startled him into falling as it dove at him, but he managed to dodge and dispatch it with his sword. He picked off the others with his slingshot as he went.

Something that looked like a cross between a snake and a giant centipede waited for him on the far ledge. He didn’t need Aerra in order to figure out the glowing bulb on its tail was its weak point, but he let her tell him anyway, and that the thing was called a Moldorm.

Once it was gone, he examined the pedestal. It held a crystal that looked just like the ones outside. He stared at it for a moment, unsure of what to do. “Try hitting it with your sword,” Aerra suggested, and he did. It glowed, rose into the air, and began to spin slowly. He waited, but nothing else happened, so he made his way back into the center room. The crystal on the platform that was in line with the door he’d just exited was now alight and floating.

Okay. He got it.

He went in another door.

He crossed a narrow bridge swarming with Moldorms, ducking from rocks that fell on him from above. He raced through a maze of fire trying to beat the timed switch that left that room’s crystal unblocked, fighting off Fire Keese and red blobs of jelly called Chuchus. He solved a switch puzzle that was very like what he’d done to get in here. He climbed around a sort of obstacle course with a flaming stick, trying to light torches around the room. He found rupees, and a map of the dungeon. There were four floors, going downward--two big, and two that only held one room each. Those single rooms looked like arenas to him, which probably meant big fights, but he would just have to see.

The last door held only a lizard-like monster--a Lizalfos--that was bigger than Link, and gave him a good fight. It was stronger and faster than him, and even when he blocked its strikes with his shield, their sheer force knocked him to the ground more than they didn’t. Link just had to do all he could to dodge it, spinning and ducking from its blows, from its razor-sharp claws and barbed tail, and get in attacks whenever he could. Finally, bleeding from scrapes on his face and a gash in his leg, he whirled out of the way of its lunge and drove his sword into its back one last time. It fell, and the gate blocking the pedestal fell too.

He activated the crystal, rested a moment, and bound his leg wound with a strip he cut from the t-shirt he’d worn the day before. No need to use up his fairy just yet. He went back into the center room, limping only slightly. All six crystals were lit, casting white and shifting light on the walls and ceiling. Link stepped cautiously onto the platform, unsure of he’d _done,_ exactly.

As both his feet touched the last step, the whole platform pulsed with light, and then began to slowly sink. Link inhaled sharply and twisted around, one hand on his sword.

It floated down a long way to what must be the second floor--a round room with no exits Link could see. It was dark and kind of stifling. They must be getting deeper into the mountain; if it got any hotter than this Link would _really_ need his suit.

As the platform settled to a stop, he drew his sword and walked forward, looking all around him. He was beginning to realize what round, seemingly empty rooms meant--a fight.

He almost felt satisfied when three bright lights burst around him, materializing into ghostly robed figures. They swirled around him once, then vanished. Link yelped and spun wildly, and one of them rematerialized right in front of him. It sent a magic blast at him, hitting him full in the chest and knocking him over. He staggered to his feet, ducking more magical attacks from the other two...things. His chest _stung,_ almost like a sunburn. “Aerra?”

“They’re called Wizzrobes. They can teleport but not very far. Your sword works on them, just stay out of the way of--” she broke off as Link twisted out of the way of another attack, hissing as his burn skin got pulled-- “Yeah, those. You’ve got a second from when they appear to when they throw that magic stuff, that’ll be your chance.”

Link nodded, pulling his shield off his back and circling the room.

“Uh, is that shield magic-proof?”

He frowned. “Oh. I have no idea. I hope so.”

“I wouldn’t test it now.”

A Wizzrobe materialized to his left; he slashed out at it but wasn’t quite close enough, and then he had to duck or else get hit again.

Those monsters were _tricky._ It was really annoying trying to fight something that wasn’t even there half the time. Link got a few more magic burns before even scoring a hit on one of them, but by then he was starting to get the hang of it. There was a sort of rhythm to when they vanished, reappeared, and struck. It hurt to move too quickly, but he pushed the pain back as best he could.

Soon he had defeated one of them, then another, and when he wasn’t trying to avoid projectiles from three monsters at once things were _much_ easier. The third one went down with no problems, and then Link was leaning against the wall, catching his breath as a large chest shimmered into existence before him.

“It’s probably another cool item like the torch you found in the Old Castle Town Ruins,” said Aerra as Link knelt before the chest.

“I wonder what it could be.” Link worked his fingers under the lid and pried it open. “We got through all the rooms upstairs fine, we didn’t need anything we haven’t already got--”

The lid swung open, and Link and Aerra shielded their eyes from the gold light pouring out of the chest. When it dimmed, Link leaned over, dug around, and closed his fingers over a smooth wooden handle.

“A whip? Nice.” He grinned and gave it an experimental crack. “I feel like an action hero or something.”

“Link, you _are,_ ” Aerra laughed.

He scuffed his foot on the dusty floor. “Well, I guess kinda. So...what am I supposed to do with this?”

Aerra rubbed her chin thoughtfully, then flew around the room. “Oh!” she yelled back, from somewhere high on the wall. “Over here, there’s a lever! Can you reach it?”

It took him an embarrassingly large amount of tries, but he did manage to wrap the end of the whip around the lever, and yank it down. The floor rumbled, and the platform moved once again from its resting place on the ground and began sinking even further.

As they descended, Link could see the ground below was red, and heat-distorted. Some parts of it glowed and moved sluggishly. “I hope this suit works,” he muttered.

The platform landed at the end of a long, rocky corridor. The ground in front of him sloped down into pure magma, flowing away from him, under a large rock slab, and through a grate that reached from ceiling to floor. Link could see the magma river went on and on beyond the grate, as far as he could see. He thought he could make out other grates, and outcroppings of rock like the one he stood on now.

It was hot and stuffy, enough that he could feel sweat start to drip down his neck, but he was pretty sure that if the suit weren’t doing its job he would be passed out or burnt to a crisp or something. The air was shimmering with heat waves, so strongly distorted that it was hard to see. It looked _deathly_ hot. He sent a silent prayer of thanks for Goron craftsmen.

He opened his map and looked at the layout of the third floor. Yes, there was the long snaking line of the river, with lots of small rooms branching off. At the very end was a circular chamber, which seemed to be set right over the single room that was the fourth floor.

The only place to go from here seemed to be...a room immediately to his left. Link looked up and turned, and saw a door.

Inside was a wide pool of magma, and a platform far to the back. How was he supposed to get over…? He looked around the room, trying to see if there was anything he’d missed. It was probably something that would make him use his new whip, right? Was there another switch?

He noticed a rail set low in the ceiling, halfway between his platform and the platform in the back. He looked down at the whip, trying to judge how long the cord was. They couldn’t _really_ want him to…

He lashed up, and the end coiled neatly around the rail.

Oh no, they _did._

“That can’t be safe,” he muttered.

“It looks really sturdy,” Aerra said cheerfully. “I’m sure it’ll hold us.”

“Well, as long as you’re _sure,_ ” he said, nerves making him sarcastic. He tugged hard at the rail; it kept its grip, and the rail didn’t even move.

He took a deep breath, ran full tilt at the platform edge, and jumped, pulling his knees up as far as he could. It wasn’t necessary, since he cleared the magma with no problem, but it had just _really_ felt like was going to burn his feet off.

He passed over the lip of the second platform and dug his heels into the ground to stop his swing, nearly tripping and letting go of the whip. He barely managed to hang on, and got his footing. A few weirdly-angled tugs managed to pull the whip free, and he immediately sat down on the floor to recover. “I hope,” he said to no one in particular, “That I never have to do that again.”

There was nothing on the platform and a door directly in front of him, so after a minute he stood and moved on.

The next room was tall and narrow, with lots of platforms hovering in midair, in a sort of stack. One was at his waist level, so he climbed on top--and scrambled back, yelling. A little skeleton had crawled to its feet and took a swipe at him. He drew his sword and slashed at it. The thing was surprisingly agile for a pile of animated bones, but a few good hits made it fall apart, landing in a scattered pile, and then vanish.

He thought he remembered these guys from ghost stories as a kid. “Was that a Stalchild?”

Aerra poked her head from his pocket and nodded. “Hey, you knew one!”

He laughed. “I’ll be replacing you soon.”

“No way! That was just a fluke!”

He rolled his eyes and inspected the platform. There was a large sort of upwards-facing fan set on a pole in the middle. “How do I get this thing to move?” he wondered aloud.

Aerra flew up to it. “Try the whip?”

He got it back out. “What, you mean like spin the blades with it?”

“Yeah, try it!”

It was hard to get a good grip on one of the uneven blades, but he managed it eventually, and pulled the whip as hard as he could. It spun the fan hard, and the cord slid off and fell at his feet. The platform began to slowly rise, the wind ruffling the curls outside his hat.

Link grinned and turned, coiling the whip again. They were reaching the next platform and the blades were slowing; when they reached it the platform and fan both stopped. Link jumped, and landed safely just as the old platform began to sink.

There was another Stalchild on the platform, but seeing the pile of bones that had appeared when he’d defeated the previous one had given Link an idea. Instead of his sword, he held onto his whip, and flicked it at the monster as it drew close. It coiled around its spine, and Link tugged. He ignored the urge to pump his fist as it crumbled into a pile of bones, and lay still. Its skull lay on the top, eye sockets staring straight at Link in a rather unsettling way. He turned his back on it, and got the fan working.

As they rose, a clattering noise made him turn just in time to see the Stalchild reassembling. He yelped and lashed out with the whip on reflex, and it fell apart again. “Aerra?” he gasped, putting his shield hand over his pounding heart. “How do I make it...not do that again?”

“Get its head?” she suggested, and Link switched whip for sword and slashed at the skull until the bones crumbled and vanished.

“Whew,” he said. “Well, the whip still made things easier, so that wasn’t a total bust.”

He made his way up the room like that. There was a Stalchild on each platform--some even had two--and he got a couple bad scrapes and cuts, once even getting knocked down to a previous platform, but eventually he was jumping across to solid ground.

There was a big chest and a door leading onwards. The chest held a large golden key, presumably the one that led into the final room. Link smiled, remembering how hard it had been to find the big key in the Old Castle Town Ruins. He was glad he’d found this one right away.

The door led back into the corridor with the magma river, up high near the ceiling. There was a ledge on the other side of the river that Link had to swing across to, but since the magma was twenty feet below him instead of six inches, he felt weirdly better about it.

A door led to a staircase going down to a room filled with jelly-like Chuchus; defeating them all made a chest appear. It held the magic compass that showed where all the important things in the dungeon were. Link immediately looked at the fourth floor--its single circular room was labeled with a monster head. Link had been dreading that, finding out he would have to fight another monster like Feren, but now that he was faced with it he felt nothing but determination. Would the Link from three days ago have ever thought something like this? He shook his head to clear those thoughts away. Now wasn’t the time.

When he went for the door, he realized it was still barred. There was something else he had to do in here...but what? He looked around, frowning. Was that something moving near the ceiling?

It was. A pressure switch was circling the room on a rail of sorts--a job for his slingshot. He’d almost forgotten he had it.

When he hit the switch, the bars over the door lifted. Link waited for a minute, but nothing else happened, so he went outside. He was back by the magma river, on ground level once more. He was right in front of that rock slab that had been up against the grate, but the grate had vanished. He guessed that was what the switch had done? He peered downriver, and saw another grate, and more doors on the banks.

He stepped gingerly onto the slab, which began to move forward once he put his full weight on it, floating gently until it tapped the grate and stopped. Link jumped onto the right bank, and opened the door there.

As he fought his way through that room, he had a sudden awful realization. “There’s no way she didn’t notice,” he said aloud.

“What?” Aerra stuck her head out of his pocket just as Link ducked and rolled under a jet of fire bursting from the wall. “Whoa!”

“The woman, or whoever else is making those spells. They definitely know we broke the one in Castle Town. They must check on them every now and then, and anyway everyone’s been talking about how the victims woke up.”

“So?”

Link bit his lip. “So they must suspect whoever did it is going to try and break the other spells. Meaning they might be...expecting us.”

“...Oh. You think they might have set a trap or something?”

He ran full-tilt across the rest of the room before the last fire jet could start up again. “I don’t know. This place is dangerous enough by itself. And I’d be here anyway--I’ve got to do something to help wake everyone up. But it isn’t a nice thought, is it?”

“No it is not. And that isn’t very good either,” she added as Link tried the door he had just reached, and found that it was locked.

He sighed and yanked his hat off to sweep his hair off his sticky forehead. “Go figure. Time to find a key, I guess.”

Back out they went, and across the river to the room on the other side.

Link thought about that a lot as they progressed. Was it stupid of him to just keep going like this? If they suspected he’d be here, and had planned for him to be here, was he playing right into their hands? If so, what was he supposed to do instead, besides give up and go home?

He comforted himself with the thought that if it was just the woman doing this, with no accomplices or assistance, it wasn’t likely she would have had the time to get to Goron City, carry out that massive attack, and lay any sort of effective trap for Link down here. Right?

Anyway, he knew there was only one thing he could really do--keep moving forward. He had a job to do. He was going to do it.

Puzzles and puzzles later, moving forward along the river bit by bit, he finally raised the last grate. The corridor widened, the magma began moving faster, and rock obstacles rose out of the river. Link quickly realized he had to use his whip to steer, grabbing onto outcroppings and pulling himself sideways, or else crash and stop. And of course once he started getting the hang of it, monsters began appearing--Fire Keese and Tektites and tentacled things that swam in the magma and spat fire at him (Aerra called them Octoroks).

He was so focused on avoiding the monsters and staying afloat that he forgot to even wonder when the river would end, and when he saw the rocky shore and massive golden door he was almost surprised. His raft tapped against the bank and stopped, and he stepped off. Dry, unmoving ground felt _good_ under his feet.

He tugged open his pocket with one finger and looked down at Aerra. “Here we go, huh?”

She nodded. “Bet you wish Zelda was here right now to help, huh?”

“Oh, yeah.” He thought of her, sitting bored at home. “I really do.”

“You can do it, though,” she said with absolute confidence. “You’ve come this far already.”

He smiled. “Thank you.”

She flew out of his pocket and settled on his shoulder. “Let’s go, then!”

Link breathed in deep, took the big key out of his bag, and opened the door.

Inside was a circular room, empty except for a small platform that looked just like the one that had served as elevators earlier in the dungeon, taking him to the Wizzrobe battle and then down to the magma river. He edged forward, half-expecting some monster or another to jump out at him, but nothing happened. He guessed this place was just a sort of entrance chamber to the final room, on the bottom floor.

He gave the place one last look, making sure he wasn’t missing anything, and stepped onto the platform. It shook gently, then began to sink.

Link felt that curious thing again--he'd been starting to worry again, but when it came down to the actual moment of danger, he only felt ready. Maybe even eager. He was beginning to understand what Zelda had meant when she’d said battling Feren had been almost fun.

He smiled grimly at the walls as they moved past him, and drew his sword.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Link would feel just like Indiana Jones, if he had any idea who Indiana Jones was.


	10. Flame Wraith: Lupyra

They touched down in a round, arena-like room, eerie in its stillness. A thin shore ringed an enormous magma lake. Link could see rock platforms floating above its surface.

He took a deep breath and made sure his whip was handy, remembering how the torch, the item he’d found in the last dungeon, had been so useful against Feren. He stepped forward--

He froze, foot hovering just above the ground, as the lake surface started to bubble. Slowly at first, but then faster and more violently until the magma surged upwards and something broke the surface, an enormous beast made out of shimmering, crackling fire--

It was a wolf, bigger than any wolf had a right to be and somehow wrong. Everything about it screamed “monster” rather than “animal,” a feeling that was only compounded as it landed on one of the platforms, threw back its head, and made a noise that Link was sure no wolf had ever made.

Link screamed back, running and jumping onto a platform himself.

“It’s called Lupyra,” he heard Aerra say into his ear. “It’s fast and clever, so stay on your toes!”

He nodded, and leaped again. Lupyra whirled and darted away from him, making an impossibly long leap to a platform that was much too far away for Link.

O...kay. Now what? Something involving the whip. Right?

Then he saw the rails on the sides of each platform, and couldn’t stop himself from speaking aloud. “It’s a freaking slide puzzle!”

“Huh?”

Link sheathed his sword hurriedly and got out the whip. “Look.” He got the rail in one shot, and felt a little smug about his aim as he pulled hard. The platform slid closer to him, moving only laterally despite the fact that he was pulling diagonally. He guessed they were on tracks set under the magma. It stopped a few feet from him, and he ran forward a few steps and jumped. He did it again with the next platform, and again, trying to get close to the monster, but it moved much faster than he could. After several very frustrating minutes he finally managed to cut it off by sheer luck, landing on a platform just as it did, and it attacked for the first time, turning and raking fiery claws into his chest. Link gasped and fell backwards, and then it was gone again.

He stood and bent over the pain, tears involuntarily welling in his eyes. They were just deep scratches, nothing life-threatening, but it felt like he’d just been slashed with a branding iron.

_You can’t just stand here,_ he told himself. _Get back in there! Come on!_

With a superhuman effort, he straightened up, gritting his teeth as the movement pulled at his cuts. He could see blood seeping through his heat suit. _Forget the pain. Forget it. It doesn’t matter right now._

He watched Lupyra for a moment, waiting until it looked like the thing was about to come his way, and--there! He lashed out and pulled, but by the time he had jumped, it was gone again.

Moving quickly had exhausted him, so he stood still again and waited for Lupyra to cross his path. There was...a sort of pattern to its movements, right? When it reached _there_ it would move to _there_ and then back up to the other end of the room and then--

He was a little too late again, but he knew he was on the right track. The next time it passed by he was ready, and was on its platform a second before it landed. He charged at it, sword up, but it flashed around him like lightning and hit him hard, and he could do nothing but scream in panic as he flew backwards into the magma.

And then he was standing back on the shore, watching a glowing ball of light spin around him and disappear.

Link realized he’d been _dead_ there, just for a moment. The fairy had _revived_ him.

Aerra flew over to him, eyes wide with worry. “Link! Are you okay?”

He still felt tired and his chest stung. He hadn’t quite been brought back to full strength, but alive was alive. “I--yeah. I got it. I’m fine.” He drew his sword again. Lupyra was ignoring him, darting around the room like he wasn’t there. He jumped back onto a platform, determined to figure this battle out.

The timing was tricky as ever, and Link had zigzagged all over the room before he managed to cut it off, feet slamming down onto a platform at the same time as its fiery paws. But this time he waited for it attack him first. He was hyper-focused, nothing in his head beyond planning for the next few seconds.

It sprang, and afterwards Link never knew how he managed to drop and roll in time. He got up already turning, already swinging his sword, and felt a rush of euphoria as it connected. Lupyra screamed that unanimal scream again, and jumped to the edge of the room, as far away from Link as it could get.

Link’s grip on his sword tightened. He did it once, he could do it again. He just needed to be careful, now that his fairy was gone--if he was killed, he’d be killed for good. He _really_ needed another bottle…

When he got near the monster again he dodged its swipe from one paw, lunged forward to knock the other away with his shield, used his momentum to drive into it with all his strength. Yes, there it was, he had the hang of this fight now. He could _feel_ how much better he was getting at swordplay, how sure his movements were getting, how his body sometimes seemed to know what to do on its own. It felt good. Really good.

One more time chasing it down, one more time parrying its blows like he knew what it was going to do before it acted, one more time breaking its guard to attack. The beast reared up and screeched in pain, and Link let himself hope that he’d done it…

It lept back to another platform and _grew,_ the flames of its body surging outwards. As Link shifted into a fighting stance, it stomped hard on its platform, shaking a chip of rock loose, and whirled. Link only heard the crack of the impact, and flattened himself to the floor just in time to hear the rock zip over his head, so fast the wind ruffled his hat. It must have hit it at him with his tail? Or something? But here came another, and Link levered himself hard against the ground and rolled to the side.

He scrambled to his feet and got out his whip. Lupyra seemed to have the same pattern of motion--maybe it was a little faster--so he still knew how to do this. He just had to avoid the rocks, which wasn’t easy. This battle was testing the limits of his reflexes. Link hadn’t even known he could move this quickly.

He pulled a platform closer to him, jumped, moved a platform again. The monster moved towards the center of the room, and he jumped at it, landing in a roll that took him under its legs. He stood, spun, and struck out at the monster. It turned and lashed out at him with one paw. Link caught it with his shield, shifted to block its bite at his head, then pressed the attack, scoring a couple of hits.

He caught his breath as the monster bounded away from him. He still felt the ache of all his old wounds that the fairy had only partly healed, his arms were starting to feel weak, and his suit was soaked through with sweat. And, oddly enough, he felt good. He didn’t understand it, and right now he didn’t want to. Nothing mattered right now but the fight.

On the next pass, he was a little slow dodging and its teeth caught him in his left arm. His teeth grit together and he staggered for a half-step, but he held onto his sword and brought it up to meet its next strike. He forced the paw sideways, twisted around, and drove his sword into its chest.

It howled, staggered backwards, fell to a crouch. Link brought his sword back up and waited, breath catching in his throat.

Lupyra froze, glowing cracks rushing over its body...and burst.

Link felt himself grin as he shielded his eyes from the blast, digging his heels hard into the platform to keep himself from being pushed into the magma. He straightened up slowly, sheathing his sword as he looked around the room. There was a heart shape spinning slowly in front of him, where Lupyra had been. And the glow he could see on the other side of the room was surely the portal out of here.

He touched the heart and relaxed slowly as he felt his wounds heal and his strength return. Aerra hovered in front of him, eyes wide and bright. “Link, you did it!”

He nodded, and pulled off his hat to unstick his sweaty hair from his forehead. “I did. Whew, I cannot _wait_ to get out of here. You ready?”

“Yup! Let’s go break that spell!”

A brief shuffling around of platforms gave him a bridge to the center of the arena, where the portal shone and let out its soft tingling noise. Link once again was reminded of Zelda, how they’d stepped through the portal in the Ruins together. “She’ll be so mad she missed this,” he said to himself.

Aerra swept up to him and landed on his shoulder. “Who?”

“Princess Zelda.”

“Oh, yeah. Well, you’ll see her soon and tell her all about it.”

Right, after this he was headed back to Castle Town to report to the king. “That’s right,” he said, a smile gently tugging at his mouth. “It’ll be nice to see her again.”

She nodded towards the portal. “Then let’s get going, so we can get back.”

Link took a deep breath and stepped inside.

He found himself in a small room--if it could even be called that. The walls and floor were uneven and chipped, covered in the kind of marks Link recognized from construction zones and excavations. Someone had carved this room out of the rock with magic, and it looked like they’d done it in a hurry.

There was a basin in the middle of the room, with those blue magic threads stretching upwards and then weaving themselves through each other on the walls. Link circled the room and found a waist-high hole in the wall covered in threads, which he guessed was how the people who had made the spell had gotten in and out. So...only one thing left to do here, then.

He stepped up to the basin, rough Goron voices calling out to him from the spheres inside. He raised his arms cautiously, unsure of what he was doing exactly, and sort of...concentrated.

His hand flashed gold, and he winced and covered his eyes with his right arm as the light filled the room and the very air thrummed.

He cracked an eye open. The room was pitch black. He pulled his torch out and clicked it on, looking down at the basin. The spheres were dim and the threads were gone. It looked exactly like the spell in the Ruins had looked after he and Zelda had broken it, which was definitely a good sign. He stared in silence, waiting for something to happen.

“I think you did it,” said Aerra.

He let out the breath he’d been holding and looked down at her. “I think you’re right. Back to Goron City then?”

“Yeah.”

He saw that the tunnel was now unblocked. If only they’d been stupid enough not to block it with the spell...he could have bypassed the entire dungeon. That would have been nice. But there was no point in thinking about what could have been, he told himself, and crawled inside.

It went on for a while, and then Link noticed it slowly getting lighter. The thought of finally getting out of here pushed him forward. He was nowhere near as exhausted as he’d been after he’d been through the Ruins, but a rest would definitely be nice.

Finally he was wriggling out of the tunnel and into the soft afternoon sunlight. The cool air on his face felt better than he’d thought anything could feel, and he stood there drinking it in while he examined his surroundings.

They were back at the surface of the Sandstone Canyon--in fact, a little above it. The tunnel had come out onto a ledge, about fifteen feet up. The cliffside was completely smooth, definitely not accessible to your average hiker. Not the worst way to keep people from wandering into your secret evil magic hideout, Link thought approvingly, and dropped carefully onto the ground, landing in a roll.

It was a long hike back up to Goron City, and Link spent most of it worrying. Fighting Lupyra had taken all of his attention, and he’d completely forgotten about how he’d been expecting some sort of trap, or at least for the spell to be better protected. So...had they noticed he’d broken the Castle Town spell? How could they possibly not have?

Maybe they were just underestimating him. Maybe they were overconfident.

Maybe.

He climbed the stairs leading to the city’s back entrance, hoping he would find the place full of families and friends celebrating their reunion. He wondered where he could find Goramin. He was probably at his office, and Link had no idea how to get there. What time was it even? He really needed to buy a watch at some point…

A stocky, muscled girl was waiting at the top of the stairs. Link thought she was a Hylian at first, and then he saw the white hair and the red eyes and he recognized her completely. “Impa?”

She smiled. “Yup. And you must be Link. Goramin said he’d told you about me.”

Link smiled back, and extended a hand. “I heard about...about what you did. It was kind of amazing.”

“Says the guy who just woke everyone up,” said Impa as she shook. “That was you, wasn’t it? Or did some other hero beat you to the punch?”

He laughed. “No, that was me. Have you been waiting for me to come back this whole time? Sorry if I kept you.”

She shrugged good-naturedly. “I kind of needed to get away, everyone’s been mobbing me. Not that I don’t appreciate their gratitude,” she added. “But it’s not like I did anything that amazing. And I wanted to talk to you as soon as I could. I need to do what I came here for.”

“What _did_ you come here for? Where did you even come from? How did you know I’m the hero?” Link blurted out. “Sorry. This is just...really confusing.”

Impa nodded. “Well, I’ll try to explain as best as I can. Let’s go back to Goramin’s house, there’s something there I need to give you.”

Link looked at her in surprise. “Give me? What is it?”

“It’s a surprise,” the girl said, grinning.

 

About half an hour later found them sitting on the bed in Goramin’s guest room, where Link had slept last night and Impa had slept the night before that. Goramin was home--it was nearly six o’clock, later than Link had thought--and had been more than happy to give them privacy while they talked. Link’s hand still throbbed from the bone-crushing handshake of gratitude the Goron elder had given him. Aerra had practically drooled on the carpet when she’d seen Goramin and his son were eating dinner, so she was now sitting on their dining table, devouring a tiny serving of cereal and talking her hosts’ ears off. Link would have loved dinner himself, but more important things were at hand.

“So, as you might have guessed, I’m a member of the Sheikah tribe,” Impa began. Link nodded. “There only a few of us left, but we’ve been passing down Hyrulean lore for centuries. And when we’re needed, we keep the royal family and the Triforce safe. Which is why I was sent to Castle Town by the Sheikah elders.”

“You guys knew something bad was going to happen?”

“ _Is_ going to,” said Impa. “It hasn’t happened yet. These attacks are pretty crazy but what we sensed...it feels like the end of Hyrule. Its destruction.”

Link shivered, remembering how he’d seen Castle Town ruined and in flames in his nightmare. “Have the Sheikah been having dreams?”

“Not dreams. We have a little bit of magic, and we can sometimes have, like, a general feeling of what’s going to come. And we’ve been feeling something really, really bad lately. We sensed something else, too. The presence of the _entire_ Triforce.”

So there it was. Ganon _had_ been reborn. Link’s mouth went dry, but he managed to get out--”Why did you just notice that now? I mean, I’ve had this thing my whole life, haven’t I?”

“It was dormant. We felt it when you awakened as the hero, around the same time as we felt the Triforce of Power’s presence. It was a couple weeks ago.”

“So when the dreams started, I guess. I wonder what made Ganon’s wake up.”

She shrugged. “Impossible to know now. Maybe we’ll have found out when all of this is over.”

Link leaned back on the bed, propping himself up with his hands. “I didn’t even know I’d been...activated or whatever. I’ve got this thing inside me, something so powerful that people have torn this country apart to get their hands on it. and I don’t even know what it does, or why me, or what any of this really means.”

“Well, didn’t you hear the stories as a kid? You were chosen because you embody the concept of bravery--you carry the spirit of the past heroes inside you.”

“I mean, but, like.” Link bit his lip. “All of that sounds ridiculous if you actually know me. I’m just some high school kid who slacks off and falls asleep in class all the time.”

She raised an eyebrow at him. “Did you or did you not just fight your way through a giant underground cavern before killing--what did you call it on the walk up here--a giant flame monster? Because you wanted to?”

“Well, because I had to. Because I had dreams about it that wouldn’t leave me alone and a magic wolf made me follow it. All of that.”

“It doesn’t sound like anyone made you do anything, it sounds like they were just showing you the way.” She smiled. “But we’re getting off-track. As I was saying, being the hero just means you value and embody courage--and don’t tell me you aren’t brave, not after everything you’ve done. So the Triforce of Courage was passed onto you. It--well, we’re not sure of everything it can do, but the Hero of Twilight’s story tells us it protects you from some types of dark magic, at the very least. Mostly it just seems to mark you as the hero.”

Link nodded and flexed his hand against the bedspread. “Wait, can you sense it right now?”

She nodded. "Very faintly. I wouldn't be having this conversation with you unless I was _sure_ you were the hero."

"I can feel other pieces too," he said.

“You’ve been near another bearer? Not Ganon…? No, it must have been the royal family’s piece, right?”

“Yeah,” said Link. “I met the king.”

Impa sighed. “I was almost hoping it would have been Ganon. We don’t know who he is or what he’s planning. Being in the dark like this is driving me _insane._ ”

“Princess Zelda thinks it might be Azaren,” Link supplied.

“The Sheikah think so too, but jumping to conclusions would be dangerous. If there was just something that could tie the woman who carried out the attacks to the royalists…”

Link straightened up. “Oh! You saw the woman, didn’t you? You fought her up close.”

She nodded. “That’s the really important thing I need to warn the royal family about. She...she’s not human.”

“Yeah, blue skin is normally reserved for the Zora,” Link joked.

“And she is _definitely_ not a Zora. But I think--I _think_ I know what she is. She looks a lot like drawings of demons we have in our tribe’s old texts. But...they were all sealed away long ago. I don’t know how she could have gotten here. How do you get enough energy to tear a hole in the world?”

Link frowned, thinking. “Human essences? But it took dozens to power the spells I’ve seen, and those were relatively simple. How many would it take to open a portal between worlds?”

“Hundreds. Even thousands. And anyway, she’s the one stealing the essences in the first place, so she would have to have been summoned here _before_ the attacks started, which makes no sense.”

“She could have just taken over from someone else. Like, someone brought her over here and then told her to gather more essences. We don’t know that the woman…demon…carried out all the attacks. This was the first time anyone saw her. Oh, except for Aerra--” he froze. That was it. He had it.

Impa leaned in. “What?”

“Do...do fairies have essences like humans do?”

She nodded. “Of course. Everything alive does. Lesser fairies, the ones you’d keep in a bottle, would have much less energy than a human essence, but a great fairy would give you a lot of power. It would definitely be possible to open a mortal with them, if you had enough. Has something happened to the great fairies in Hyrule?”

Link looked down at his empty pocket. “To some of them, at least. I can’t believe it never occurred to me, but Aerra’s family weren’t put in comas, they just _disappeared._ So...okay, Zelda was right, the woman isn’t acting alone. There are other people behind the attacks--presumably the Gerudo--who kidnapped great fairies, used their essences to bring over her over, then sent her to collect more, and start gathering human essences. I guess. But for what? If they’d already summoned her, what did they need more fairy essences for?”

“To bring over more demons?” She sighed. “More questions. But this is something, at least. We should check all the fairy fountains in Hyrule and see if any of them have been attacked. And if they haven’t been, maybe we can lay some sort of trap, because the woman’s probably going to go for them at some point. I really need to get to Castle Town and tell the king about this, I just feel like we’re running out of time.”

Link’s stomach clenched. “I’ll check on the fairies, I bet Aerra will know where all the fountains in Hyrule are. I need to head over to the Lanayru province anyway to break the spell in the Zora Grotto. Hopefully the king will know what else we can do, because I’ve got nothing beyond that.”

“Sounds good. I’ve been sent to protect the royal family, so I’ll be staying in Castle Town as a bodyguard. We’ll try to work things out from there.”

“Yeah,” said Link. “Do you think this’ll be enough? I don’t know what they’re planning, so I don’t know how to stop them. I don’t even know who they are.”

Impa frowned, looked up at the ceiling. “I really, really hope so. I almost feel like it’ll be easier when they make their final move, and show themselves. At least then we’ll know what we’re dealing with.”

“So there’s nothing else to do but get going, I guess.” He sat upright and got off the bed. “Oh, hey, wait. Didn’t you have something for me?”

Impa stood as well. “I do indeed.” She leaned over and picked up her guitar case. “My main job is to protect the king and princess, but I was also sent to help the hero out in any way I could. This is a gift from the Sheikah tribe.”

She held out the case; Link took it. “Thank you,” he said, and his confusion must have been showing clearly on his face, because Impa laughed.

“It’s magic,” she explained. “Songs have always had a lot of power in Hyrulean legends--you know how the Hero of Time traditionally played the ocarina. The right tune, played on the right instrument...it can do very interesting things. Very useful things. Can you play the guitar at all?”

Link looked up at her. “I literally just started learning last month.”

“Well, that’s no problem, the songs are generally pretty simple. You’ll learn quick.”

“No, I mean.” He fidgeted with the case. “That’s one heck of a coincidence. Like, did the Goddesses notice you guys planning on giving me this thing and then put it in my head to ask my friend to teach me guitar?”

Impa raised her eyebrows. “I dunno, but weirder things have happened. C’mon, open it, I need to teach you a song quick and then head to Castle Town.”

“Right now? Okay.” He put the case down gently on the bed and undid the clasps. It looked like a normal guitar. The front was decorated with the Hyrulean royal crest and the symbols of the Golden Goddesses. He picked it up and gave it an experimental strum, and was a little disappointed when it sounded no different from any other guitar he’d heard. “Is it...supposed to do something?”

She stepped closer to him. “You need the right song, and the right time and place. This song has been passed down by my people for centuries. Play it if you ever see our tribe’s symbol around Hyrule.”

“Why?” Link asked. “What will happen?”

Impa grinned. “You’ll find out! Okay, so it’s called the Song of the Sheikah and it’s really simple, let me show you…”

Learning a seven-note song took way longer than Link wanted it to. He was still new at this, his fingers clumsy on the strings. But after fifteen minutes or so, he could play the entire thing by himself, and Impa was nodding with approval. He played it again, just to make sure he had it down, and because it was beautiful and oddly wistful and he liked hearing it.

“Okay,” said Impa. “You’ve got the paper I gave you? With the notes written down?” He held it up, and she continued, “Okay, then we need to get to Castle Town. Goramin said the gondola will be down until tomorrow, which means hiking in the dark, but we haven’t got much choice in the matter. We can take the train back from Kakariko, though.”

Link put the guitar back in its case. “I don’t think I can come with you, sorry. Aerra and I need to check on the great fairies of Death Mountain before we head back.”

She put on her sweatshirt, and then her backpack. “Okay, then I’ll see you in Hyrule Castle later tonight or tomorrow. You’re reporting back there first thing, right?” Link nodded. “Alright. I should say goodbye to Goramin.”

He stretched, wincing a little at the full realization that he would soon be hiking around the mountain yet again, that this already-long day wasn’t over yet, and followed her out of the room.

 

It was dark by the time Link and Impa left Goramin’s house, with his utmost thanks and his promise that if they ever needed anything at all, he would do everything he could to help. Impa and Link said goodbye at the front entrance to the city, and then she headed down the mountain while Link hiked up. Aerra hadn’t been sure exactly where the fairy fountain was, but a little bit of exploring led them to a small cave that she recognized immediately when she saw it.

The fountain was just as dark and deserted as the one in Hyrule Field had been. This time Link was ready for monsters, and he defeated the Bokoblins inside with ease. Aerra gave the place a sad look, then buried her face in Link’s shirt.

He searched around for possible evidence, trying to figure out exactly what had gone down here, if his theory that the fairies were being kidnapped for their essences was correct. He found nothing, but he had absolutely no idea what to look for.

Finally he remembered that he still had to trek all the way down to Kakariko that night, and left. On the way back to the Goron City entrance, he asked Aerra where the other fairy fountains were, and she told him there were four more, scattered around Hyrule. One was sort of en route to Zora’s Grotto, but the rest were all over the place. He didn’t know whether breaking the remaining spells was more important than checking up on the great fairies...he would have to see what Zelda thought, and the king.

He came to the path leading down the mountain, already dying to be back in Kakariko. Maybe he could catch some sleep on the train to Castle Town. He definitely wasn’t reporting to the castle until tomorrow morning. Impa could fill them in on all the important stuff--

He flinched as a loud bark cut through the night. He looked around, trying to find the source, and heard it again, louder and fiercer. There--a dark shape on top of a rock, blue eyes boring into Link’s. It growled at him and jerked its head towards the ground, and saw that it was a black wolf, unfocused and wispy-looking just like the one that had led him to the door to the Ruins.

It barked furiously at him again, looking down at its feet and back up. The urgency of the sound and of its gaze locked on him sent his heart racing, and he took a half-step back and looked at the ground, thinking maybe that was what it wanted--

The next three seconds went like this.

He saw something gleaming under the footprint he had left, where his shoe had scuffed away the dirt.

He realized it was a thread of magic, that someone had set a spell down across the path and hidden it under the mountain dust. And the wolf was still barking, sounding almost panicked, telling him that he needed to _get away--_

Link flung himself backwards as the thread flashed, and a wide circle of light showed itself through the dirt, running the full width of the path. He landed just outside it, falling onto his back--

And the world exploded.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sometimes a different certain past hero comes out of retirement to help a hero out.
> 
> Oh, and the Song of the Sheikah is the first seven notes of Sheik's theme from Ocarina of Time. (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jRKAZrMXm4c)


	11. Battle on the Mountainside

Link struggled to rise, the blast ringing in his ears. A tiny piece of his brain was screaming _I told you there would be a trap, I told you,_ but most of him was shaken and confused. His body stung all over and he’d gotten the wind knocked out of him and his head felt scrambled and he could barely process what his eyes were telling him, that a blue figure had appeared somehow in all the confusion and was walking towards him.

He got up onto one knee, sucking air desperately into his lungs, hand groping for his sword but not quite getting it. She was standing over him now, and the fear of having his soul forever trapped in a glass ball gave him strength. He levered himself to his feet and drew his sword.

She scowled as Link held her gaze, legs shaking a little. He was silent, trying to will his head to stop buzzing, waiting for her to speak, attack, do anything. And...yes, she was definitely not human, not with those sharklike teeth and scaly skin and bright blue hair and eyes that trailed light in the dusk as she moved.

“Hylian boy, all in green,” she said, cocking her head. Her voice had a strange cadence to it, like she knew human speech but hadn’t used it very often. Like her mouth didn’t quite know how to form words and sentences. “And with a sword, a weapon long left behind in time’s dust trails. A boy out of the past. I saw you leaving the Sandstone Canyon, poking around where you shouldn’t be. They told me you might come.”

“Who’s they?” he asked quickly, hoping to catch her off guard, but she only laughed.

“Good question. But I don’t have an answer for you, I’m afraid.” She grabbed at him without warning, lightning fast, and he jumped to the side as her fingers just brushed his collar. He backed away further, unwilling to start a fight just yet. He wanted her to keep talking.

“I’m surprised you waited to try and kill me until I’d already destroyed the spell up here,” he taunted. “I would have thought you _didn’t_ want all your hard work to be ruined.”

She lunged forward, hooking his foot out from under him before he could dodge. He stumbled and caught himself right before he fell, twisting around and moving away from her again. “I’ve been busy. Didn’t want to bother with an insect of a boy who kept getting in the way. Putting an explosive spell anywhere near my work isn’t a great idea either, not when the place is already guarded. What did you think all the monsters in there were for?”

Link forced himself to keep his sword at his side, relax his muscles. “To annoy me? Because that’s all they really ended up doing.” She snarled and charged him again, but he’d been expecting it and sidestepped neatly. “Hey, no need to be so mad, I’m just trying to have a conversation.” Toying with an opponent felt awkward and unnatural--if he had to fight, he preferred to just fight and get it over with. _She took Impa’s soul. She took Doman’s soul. She kidnapped Aerra’s family,_ he told himself. He had to be angry. He had to want to draw this out, to see her squirm.

She snapped her fingers, and they began to glow with a deep black light. Magic? Something seemed off about that, but Link didn’t have time to do more than register the feeling before she struck at him, heat radiating so strongly from her hand that it stung his cheek as he twisted out of the way. “I don’t have anything to say to you,” she hissed, grabbing his sword arm with her free hand, and yanking him towards her. Link desperately rammed his knee into her stomach and pulled free as she flinched.

Right. This wasn’t working. He dug for the one thing he thought might shock her into saying something useful. “What did you do with the fairies?”

The woman gave a harsh laugh. “Huh, I guess the little brat talked.”

He felt Aerra flinch inside his pocket. “What did you need them for?” he pressed, taking another step backwards.

“What could I possibly gain from telling you?” She smiled, showing those jagged teeth.

“I’ll leave you alone,” he said calmly, trying to make it clear that there was no bravado here, no bluster, only a promise. “I won’t hurt you.”

She laughed again. “The sheer arrogance. You think nothing can touch you, just because you carry a little piece of the Goddesses’ power. It’ll be your downfall. You will die on the end of my master’s blade, regretting your lack of humility and prudence.”

“It’s hard to be afraid when you won’t even tell me what it is I’m supposed to be afraid of,” he said past the sliver of cold that her words had introduced in his stomach. She flung her hand out, sending a black bolt of magic at Link. He ducked and rolled, standing to face the woman again. “Could I get a name at least? For politeness’ sake?”

“Iduri,” she said.

“That’s your master’s name?” Link asked, taken aback at her sudden acquiescence.

“I’m not that foolish,” she said. “That’s my name. Now, what’s yours?”

He blanched slightly at her hungry-shark smile, wondering if he’d set a trap for himself in some way. “Link.”

“Good. We’ve been properly civil and introduced ourselves--so now you’ll know the name of your murderer,” she said as she jumped at him, magic-wreathed hand drawn back.

He ducked the punch and drove his elbow into her chest, pushing her back a few steps. As he drew his sword she snapped her palm out, magic shot catching him in the shoulder, burning him so intensely that he fell to his knees and cried out. Iduri’s black eyes glimmered with triumph as she leaned over and grabbed his shirtfront, lifting him to his feet. Link stabbed his sword upwards, catching her in the armpit, and she let go. He followed it up quickly with another strike to her body, driving her backwards again, then had to duck another magic attack.

“I know you’re working for Ganon,” he gasped, desperately hoping he was right. “There’s no point in hiding it. I just want to know what he’s planning.”

Iduri laughed harder than she had yet. “As if I would tell you that.” She struck at him again, and he caught her arm with his sword and kicked hard at her shin. She stumbled forward, and he got in two quick blows on her torso before she regained her balance.

Well, she hadn’t denied Ganon was her master, if that meant anything. Link sucked in a breath as they circled each other. “Like I said. If you talk, I won’t hurt you.”

“And if _you_ aren’t _silent,_ I won’t hurt _you._ ”

Link backflipped over a magic blast. It was very nearly dark by now, and almost impossible to see them coming. “You won’t,” he said, “Because you can’t.” A quick jump to the side as she attacked again, a lunge forward and a sword strike at her back, and she staggered again. “Having trouble now that you’re fighting someone who’s armed, and actually ready for you?”

She turned and slammed her free hand into his throat, magic hand swinging towards his face as he gasped. He ducked, the blow just grazing the top of his head. He could feel the heat on his hat and hair. “I’ll rip that grin right off your face,” she snapped.

“That’s a little more _violent_ than the usual phrase,” he said casually, knocking her arm to the side and elbowing her hard in the stomach. “Talking it out would really be good for you.” He was definitely making her angry. He just hoped it would do any good.

He saw Iduri’s hand twitch and flinched away from the strike he knew was coming--and then he was suddenly on the ground, sword fallen from trembling fingers, his breath hitching in his throat. She’d faked him out, he realized as his brain scrambled to reconstruct the past few seconds. She’d gotten him with her other hand, a magic-reinforced punch full in the chest, and it felt like his ribs had caved in and then caught fire.

Iduri walked up to him and kicked him in the stomach. Link bit back a scream. “Arrogance. Like I said. So smug. So proud of yourself. You think you’re stopping something by setting those essences free? You think you can best me here? You have no idea what’s happening. You’re blundering in the dark.”

_Well, turns out all I had to do to get her to talk was almost die,_ he thought wryly. Later her words would terrify him, but right now he had enough to panic about. Iduri was kneeling besides him, reaching into her pocket, taking out a glass orb--

With a superhuman effort he rolled to the side and grabbed his sword. Iduri’s fingers closed around his free wrist--and oh, that was _not_ human skin, it felt smooth and scaly and _warm_ \--and began to yank Link towards her, but he was already halfway to his feet, digging his heels into the ground. He wrenched out of her grip and stood up, backing away and taking a fighting stance. His entire body was still screaming with pain, but he was getting disturbingly used to fighting while injured.

If he drew out this fight any longer, he would probably end up dead or in a coma. He had to really go on the offensive, and just hope Iduri would let something else slip. She was moving towards him, hand outstretched, magic curling around her fingers. Link grit his teeth and charged.

She was quick on the draw, sending a magic bolt at him almost immediately. Link dodged it and collided with her full-force, driving her backwards with his shoulder and slashing her with his sword before she could recover. As she stumbled backwards, Link took a running jump at her, coming down blade-first. She flinched, then struck his side with her magic-gloved hand, but Link was too deep in the fight to care. He stabbed at her again, and she lashed out with one foot and swept his legs out from under him. He hit the ground hard, jarring his raw skin, but pushed himself upright without even stopping for breath and jumped away from her next blow.

He had found that place he sometimes went to while he fought, when he _understood_ how his opponent moved and what his body needed to do, when every inch of him was hyper-concentrated on the task ahead, when pain stopped mattering.

Iduri grabbed at his arm. He ducked and hit her again, and her magic-covered hand snapped up and closed around his right wrist. He cried out and nearly fell, regaining his balance at the last minute and kicking out hard at her stomach. He wrenched himself free, blinking away tears. He could feel his skin blistering.

There wasn’t time to catch his breath. He lunged at her and she ducked, then stumbled. She was getting tired. He almost had her.

Before she could react Link attacked with everything he had, driving her backwards and onto her knees. She raised her hand to send a magic bolt at him, but it faltered and fell, the unnatural black light dimming until it was gone. Link held his sword at her throat, staring hard into her eyes, silently daring her to test him.

“What were you going to do with Aerra?” he snapped.

Iduri drew in a few ragged breaths. “Hm, who? Oh, the little one. Too young for her essence to be as useful as the rest of her family’s, incompatible with the spells designed for humans...I had nothing planned for her yet. I kept her in case I thought of something I could do with her.”

“Would you care at all if I told you people weren’t just things to be used?” His grip clenched on his sword.

“Fine words to be spoken by the tool of the Goddesses,” she spat. “Your life has never been your own. They’ve cursed you with a destiny you will never escape.”

“Just tell me what you did with the other fairies,” Link snapped.

She scowled up at him, hatred seething in her eyes. “Not even if you say ‘pretty please.’”

He touched the tip of his blade to her neck. Wrong decision--he had no idea if he could actually follow through with the threat, and he was terrified of finding out--but he was too angry to think straight. “ _Tell me._ ”

She held his gaze for a long minute. Link was about to demand she once more that she speak, half-insane from impatience, when she rapped her hand on the ground. “Enough.” Her fingers began to glow with magic again, and then her whole body. Link tensed up, ready to move if she tried anything, but she did not move. “I tire of this,” she said. Magic was rippling over her skin, so dark Link could barely see her anymore. “I have work to do, I cannot waste my time with this foolishness. But don’t worry, little hero. We’ll meet again. I’ll let you ask me more questions on that day, when the answers will do nothing to help you anymore.” She gave Link that sharp, unnatural smile. “Goodbye.”

She flashed once, and then faded to nothing. Link yelped and looked around wildly, but she was gone. She must have teleported away; there would be no finding her now.

He sat on the rocky ground, breathing in deep. The adrenaline drained out of him, leaving space for the pain once more. “Aerra,” he gasped. “She’s gone. You can come out now, it’s okay.”

The fairy stuck her head out of his pocket, purple eyes filled with tears. “I--I thought she was gonna--I thought you would--I’m glad you’re okay, Link.”

He smiled. “Don’t you worry about me. I’m sorry I couldn’t get her to tell me where your family is.”

She fluttered up to land on his shoulder. “That’s okay. You tried. You were really mad, Link.”

He felt a chill as he remembered his blade at Iduri’s throat. He hadn’t wanted her dead--probably--but he’d wanted her to _think_ that he did. He’d wanted her terrified and helpless. “Yeah,” he said. “I was.”

“Thank you for caring so much about them.”

He twisted his head around so he could see her. “Of course.” He sighed and levered himself up, wincing as his entire body protested. “Do you think we’re closer to Goron City or Kakariko? I need a potion, the sooner the better.”

Aerra shifted into a more comfortable sitting position on his shirt. “Um, I don’t know. I think around halfway. We should probably go to Kakariko Village anyway, since we need to be at the castle tomorrow and it’s late.”

Link nodded. “You’re probably right. I just--ow. Yeah. Okay, let’s get going.” He dug out his torch and clicked it on--it was almost completely dark by now--and began making his slow way down the mountain.

“I wonder if anyone heard the explosion,” he said to Aerra after a little while.

“Maybe? Even if they did, I don’t think they would have time to get here yet. Kakariko Village and Goron City are still a couple hours’ walk away.”

Link yawned. “I hope not. I’m too tired to explain all of this right now.”

The yawn transferred itself to Aerra; she was clearly exhausted as well. “It’s been a long day.”

“They’ve all been long lately.” He winced as his wrist throbbed with sudden pain. “But this is two spells done out of three, so more half done I guess. We also might have to check out the other fairy fountains around Hyrule and try to get to the bottom of...whatever it is they’re doing.”

“It sounded really important, and bad. Whatever it is they’re doing with the other fairies. With my family.”

Link paused for a moment while he concentrated on scaling a rock using only his good hand. “I know. But I can’t stand the thought of leaving the victims in Zora Grotto to rot. Maybe the king will decide it’s worth it to send other people out to investigate.” He sighed. “I can’t think about this right now, sorry. Too tired. We can talk it out with Princess Zelda and the king and Impa tomorrow.”

“I’m excited to see the Princess again,” said Aerra. “Are you?”

He blushed, and wasn’t sure why. “Yeah, I mean, she’s really nice, and I just, like. She knows what’s going on way more than I do. She’ll figure something out.” His face was still burning, and he wasn’t entirely sure why.

The fairy yawned again. “I like her.”

Link nodded and looked up at the rising moon to hide the self-conscious smile that pulled at his lips. “Yeah,” he said. “I like her too.”

 

It was eleven at night before they reached Kakariko. Link’s injuries had made it slow going, and by the time he staggered into a local drugstore to refill his bottle, he felt like he was about to collapse.

The cashier seemed taken aback at having to ring up a teenaged boy in ripped and dust-stained clothing, with a sword and shield strapped to his back. Link wondered if trying to explain would help, and in the end just tried not to make eye contact and hurried out of the store as soon as he could.

He chugged the potion the minute he was outside. He had nearly forgotten what it felt like to have skin that wasn’t burning all over. He massaged the formerly blistered skin on his wrist, rubbing out the ghost of the pain.

“You think tomorrow will be the first day since this whole thing started that I don’t get badly injured?” he asked Aerra.

She stuck her head out of his pocket. “I hope so.”

“Yeah, I hope so too.” He tucked the empty bottle in his bag and stood. “I should probably get another potion, but I think I’ve freaked out that cashier enough. I’ll get it back home...tomorrow. Right _now_ we are going to catch a train so we can go to sleep as soon as possible.”

“Sounds like a plan,” said Aerra.

He fell asleep on the train, despite his best attempts not to. Aerra poked him awake when the train pulled into Castle Town, and he stumbled off the platform and up to the next floor of the station to grab a local train. He couldn’t wait to get home...he might need his own bed more than anything else on this earth.

Finally he was walking up his driveway and unlocking his front door. He left his bag, sword, and shield in an untidy pile on the floor, and made Aerra a little nest on the foot of his bed out of old sweatshirts and the stuffed horse he’d won for her all the way back--oh, it was only the day before yesterday. Well.

When she was settled he showered, put on a clean pair of pajama pants, and brushed his teeth. He returned to his room to find her snoring, so he switched off the light, set an alarm on his magiscreen for the next morning, and crawled carefully into bed.

Four nights ago, he had slept in this same bed with nothing to worry about except his history essay and having the nightmare again.

_I hope you knew what you were doing when you picked me,_ he thought to the Goddesses as he fell asleep.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Is that an antagonist I see? At long last?


	12. Back To Hyrule Castle

Walking into the front entrance of the castle in broad daylight was very different from coming in through a secret passageway late at night.

The guards waved him through after he showed them his identification card, sending him to a large sitting room to wait. They made him leave his sword behind, just as they had last time he had spoken with the king. Link wasn’t even sure why he’d brought it. He just felt helpless without it, for all that seventy-two hours ago he’d never touched a sword before. Or maybe it was just that he was something of an overpacker? He'd brought the guitar as well, even though he had no idea why he might need it here.

As he sat and stared at the walls, Link went over everything he needed to talk about. He guessed Impa had already told them about everything that had happened in Goron City, so he really just needed to tell them about his confrontation with Iduri. (“Confrontation” sounded better than “she nearly killed me several times and then escaped the minute I had her pinned.”)

After several minutes a guard came by and told him he would be taken to see the princess. Link was surprised at that--he’d been assuming he would be meeting with both Ersten and Zelda--but he didn’t mind too much. He’d wanted to see Zelda more than the king anyway; he just knew her better.

He was led to a different wing of the castle, to a set of double doors at the end of what looked like a perfectly ordinary hallway. Link could hear voices inside--was that Impa? He smiled as he recognized another voice as Zelda’s. The guard rapped on the door, then stood aside. After a few seconds it swung inwards.

“Link!”

The guard bowed and he followed suit, trying and failing to hide his grin. “Hello, your Highness.”

Zelda rolled her eyes. “Oh, stop that. How’ve you been? Thank you so much,” she added the guard, who bowed and left.

“Uh, alright, your Highness. Lots of things have been trying to kill me lately.”

She laughed. “That’s how it goes, I guess. Come on in.”

Link followed her into the room, which looked to be some kind of lounge? It was kind of like the room he’d just left, but more plainly decorated, with fewer paintings and sculptures and a huge magiscreen on the wall showing some sort of program. He guessed this was where Zelda went to...hang out? He’d been expecting to find her doing, well, princessy things.

He tugged his pocket open. “Alright, Aerra, coast is clear.”

“Hello!” The little fairy flew out of his pocket. Zelda smiled and held out a hand, letting Aerra land on her palm. “It’s good to see you!”

Zelda gave her a quick curtsey. “Likewise! Let’s go sit so we can catch up.”

He saw Impa get up off one of the couches. “Princess, who was it--oh, Link! Aerra! Hi!”

He waved. “Impa! How long have you been here?”

“Since last night. You sure took your time.”

Zelda sat down next to Impa and patted the spot on her other side. Link unbuckled his shield, sunk down onto the incredibly soft couch, and smiled. “It’s kind of a long story, that.”

She raised her eyebrows. “Well?”

“Uh, we should probably wait for his Majesty. Is that alright?”

The princess looked at her watch. “His meeting with the Gerudo Valley ambassador should be finishing up soon. I guess we can wait.”

Link leaned back into the cushions. “So...what have you guys been up to?”

Impa looked at Zelda, who waved her hand in a “go ahead” gesture. “Well, I went to Hyrule Castle straight away, but the guards wouldn’t let me see the king for a while. They had to check my background and make sure I was who I was saying I was and all of that.”

“Dad’s known for ages that the Sheikah were still around!” Zelda burst out. “He’s been in contact with them for _years_ and never told me!”

“He _was_ sworn to secrecy, Princess,” said Impa. “You would have been told when you needed to know, before your coronation.”

Zelda sighed. “Yeah, I know. I understand. I just...I wonder what else he knows that he’s keeping from me.”

Link looked at her, one leg drawn up against her blouse, chin resting thoughtfully on her knee. “Nothing he won’t tell you when it’s time. He wants you to be a good queen someday, doesn’t he? So he’ll make sure you know everything you need to know.”

“Alright,” said Zelda, with a small smile. “Yeah. Anyway. I didn’t even get to meet Impa until a few hours ago, since I was asleep by the time they were convinced she wasn’t an assassin or something. And I’m _really_ glad she’s here, since it means that instead of reading endless intelligence reports and studying for school and attending Council sessions, I get to ‘entertain our guest,’ which so far has meant eating pancakes and watching cartoons.”

Link paid attention to the screen for the first time. It showed a still, silent frame (Zelda must have paused the program before answering the door) that Link recognized immediately as being from a favorite science-fiction show of his. “Is that last night’s episode? I haven’t seen it yet!”

Zelda gasped and turned to him. “You watch it too?”

He grinned. “Doesn’t everyone, your Highness?”

“Well, then I guess we’ll have to go back to the beginning and watch it again. We were only five minutes in anyway. You okay with that, Impa?”

The Sheikah assented, and Zelda stood and went over to the screen to reset the episode. “Hey, Link, who do you think the mole is? Who told the Federation about their plan to break into the archives?”

Link had already discussed this in length with Doman and Ania weeks ago. “Narilen,” he said without hesitation.

“Uh, he’s _dead,_ ” said Impa. 

Zelda pressed “play” and sat back down. “Like that means anything in fiction. I don’t know of anyone who would have a better motive…”

They kept arguing about it throughout the entire show, and yelled at the screen together when the episode ended without any revelations on the subject.

 

They heard a knock on the door about five minutes after the show ended, interrupting Link’s story about the time a very bewildered substitute teacher had caught him passing notes with Doman written in an elaborate code they had invented.

“That’s probably--that’s probably Dad,” Zelda managed to get out through her giggles. “Hang on.” She stood and took a half-step towards the door, then started laughing again. “‘The rabbit flies at midnight,’ though.”

“Did you actually end up reading it in front of the whole class?” Impa asked.

Link grinned. “With a completely straight face.”

The knock sounded again. “Oops,” said Zelda, scrambling for the door. She stopped right in front of it to compose herself-- _making the switch from teenager to princess,_ Link thought--and turned the handle.

He couldn’t quite hear what anyone was saying, but that was definitely the king’s voice, and there was a stranger there, too. Impa jerked her head towards the front of the room and raised her eyebrows at him questioningly; he shrugged.

Finally Zelda called to them, and Link and Impa made their way to the door. King Ersten was indeed there, along with two Gerudo--a woman in a suit and tied-up hair holding the hand of a young girl, about ten or eleven.

He bowed to the king, who bowed back and smiled. (Would he _ever_ get used to that?) “Welcome back Link, hello Impa,” he said. “May I introduce Sereil, the Gerudo Valley ambassador to Hyrule, and her daughter Zeyona. Sereil, Zeyona--this is Link, a friend of my daughter’s, and Impa, who is staying with us for a while.”

Link had no idea how to offer respect to an ambassador. After a moment’s panic he settled on bowing his head. Zeyona waved shyly, and he couldn’t help but wave back.

Sereil inclined her head in return. “It’s good to meet you both.”

“Likewise,” said Impa.

“We were all just heading back to the Old Wing of the castle,” said Ersten. “Sereil and Zeyona are going back to the Embassy, and I was going back to my office. Please join us.”

Impa gave a short bow. “Of course.”

A few minutes later, after the teenagers had grabbed their things, they began walking back to the main wing of the castle. Zelda was talking with Sereil, and Link watched the way she kept her movements measured and stately, her laughter quiet. It really was like she was two different people.

“Are you that guy everyone’s been talking about?”

Link started at the unfamiliar voice, and looked down to see Zeyona watching him. “I don’t know,” he said. “Maybe? What guy?”

She played with the end of her red ponytail. “The one that’s been going around saving people. I saw on the news, the person who woke up everyone in Goron City was a Hylian boy wearing green, with a sword and shield. Like the hero.”

Well, so much for secrecy...not that it was like he could really do anything differently. “Yeah, that’s me, I guess.”

“That’s really cool,” said Zeyona. “How can you go around Hyrule like that? Don’t you have school?”

“Don’t you?” Link countered. It was still before noon--most elementary schools would still be in session.

She giggled. “It’s the weekend.”

“It--oh.” Was it? What day of the week had it been when he’d gone to the Ruins, when all of this had started? He was losing track of everything. Everything that had been happening lately was making him feel like he’d gone back in time, back into the legends. Sort of like he was unstuck from the real world. “Well, anyway, I’m missing school for a little while. My teachers gave me permission.”

Zeyona nodded. “So they know you’re the hero? _Are_ you the hero?”

“Nope, they just know there’s something important I have to do. And, uh, yeah. I’m the hero. Apparently.” It felt so _weird_ to just say it like that.

_“Cool,”_ she breathed.

He shrugged, embarrassed. “I think it sounds a lot cooler than it really is.”

She didn’t seem to have heard him. “Have you killed lots of monsters and stuff?”

“Yeah, I mean that’s basically all the hero does, isn’t it?”

“No! The hero travels all over and helps anyone who needs help. Sometimes that means killing monsters and sometimes it doesn’t. I wish I could do something to help. It feels like lots of bad things are happening right now. Mom said there have been way more monsters around than usual.”

For a minute Link considered asking her if she knew anything about the royalists, then decided that would make it incredibly obvious what they suspected of Azaren. And Zeyona probably didn’t know anything useful anyway, seeing as she lived in Castle Town. “It definitely does seem like there are a lot of monsters around,” he finally said. “Does your mom have any idea why? Because I don’t.”

“She doesn’t,” said Zeyona. “But it has her really worried.”

Link nodded. “Yeah, I’m worried too.”

Zeyona looked up at him, confused. “But you’re the hero!”

He laughed. “I think the hero worries more than practically anyone.”

“Hm. Oh, because you’ve got all this responsibility.”

“Exactly,” said Link, impressed.

“Zeyona,” her mother interrupted, “We’re heading this way.”

The girl smiled sheepishly at Link. “Bye! It was nice to meet you. Goodbye, your Majesties,” she added, curtseying.

“I’ll see you at the meeting with the Council tomorrow, Sereil,” said the king. “Goodbye, Zeyona, it was good to see you.”

Zeyona blushed and curtseyed again before heading down the hallway with her mother, and then they were gone.

“I’m sorry I kept you waiting, Link,” said the king as he led them down a path that branched off the main hallway.

“Um, that’s alright, your Majesty,” he said. “It wasn’t like there was a set time we were going to meet.”

“And we all got to watch the new episode of _The Secrets of Space,_ ” said Zelda.

“Am I the only one left in Hyrule who _doesn’t_ watch this show?”

Zelda laughed. “Maybe you wouldn’t be if you would ever let me show you the first episode…”

The king’s mouth twisted wryly. “Maybe one day when I’m not too busy running a country.”

“Fair enough,” Zelda sighed.

 

Several minutes later found the four of them sitting in King Ersten’s office. It felt weird for Link to be in this room awake and alert, instead of half-delirious with exhaustion and covered in blood and dirt.

“Impa filled me in on everything that happened,” said the king, “And since I assume nothing too momentous occurred in the twelve hours it took you just to get home, today we’ll just be focusing on what to do next.”

“Well, actually,” said Link.

Zelda turned to him. “That’s right, there was something you had to say before.”

He nodded and took a deep breath. “Yeah, on my way back to Kakariko the woman who’s been behind all the attacks tried to kill me.”

“What?!” Zelda burst out. “ _How_ did you keep quiet about that this whole time?”

“So there’s this thing called patience,” Link teased, and she made a face at him.

“ _Anyway,_ ” the king interrupted. “If Link could tell us exactly what happened…”

Link blushed, and detailed the trap that had been set for him, the subsequent fight, and everything Iduri had told him.

The king frowned thoughtfully, hands resting under his bearded chin. “So you and Impa were right in thinking she was going after fairy essences,” he said. “That’s something we really need to start looking into. It sounds like whatever they’re doing with the fairies is far more pressing than whatever they’re doing with human essences. Are you sure she didn’t mention anything more about it at all?”

Link shook his head. “I’m sorry, your Majesty, I couldn’t get her to say anything else.”

“It’s nothing to feel bad about, you had your hands full just trying to stay alive. But I do wish we had more to go on, or any way to find out more.” He sighed. “I hate to put you in more danger, but the only thing I can think of is for you to try and confront her again. She’s our only source of information right now.”

“No, that makes sense,” Link said. “That means I can help the Zora Grotto victims while I’m at it, because that’s where she’ll probably be.”

King Ersten nodded. “Exactly. The spell there needs to be taken care of anyway. I spoke with Goramin yesterday; police found that the security spells on his office had been weakened. That’s what you both suspected, wasn’t it? So I think it’s safe to assume Iduri is targeting President Oruta next.”

“Have you warned her?” Zelda asked.

“Yes, she has Zora police looking for the spell apparatus, but they’ve found nothing yet.” The king took a slow breath. “It’s frustrating, but even with this new information I can see no other way forward besides continuing what we’ve already been doing.”

Zelda smiled wryly. “Yeah, all we’ve really got is an ominous warning that we ‘have no idea what they’re planning.’ Super encouraging _and_ super useful.”

“If they really did use fairy essences to summon Iduri, that would have been a really big spell,” said Impa. “Could you have people look for magical residue? Maybe that could tell you where their base of operations is.”

“That’s a good idea,” said the king, and Impa smiled. “We don’t know how long ago they opened the portal, so the magical signature could be gone entirely, but it’s worth a try.”

“But you don’t have jurisdiction in Gerudo Valley, which is where we’re expecting to find to find what we’re looking for,” said Zelda.

The king sighed. “We still have no physical evidence that the Gerudo are involved in any way. As far as we know, anyone at all could be behind this.”

Zelda crossed her arms. “Come on, we have proof Ganon is back, and this generation’s Gerudo male is stirring up trouble? Who do you _think_ it is?”

“I _think_ the same thing you do. But we don’t _know_ anything. I would love to be able to investigate the royalists further, but my hands are a bit tied. None of our agents in Gerudo Valley have managed to get close to them as of yet. They have a very strong Gerudo-only stance. But, well, there may be a way to get closer, although I really hope it never comes to that.”

“What do you mean?” Zelda asked. “Is that what you were talking to Sereil about?”

King Ersten nodded. “Among other things. I mentioned that if the situation in Gerudo Valley were to escalate, Hyrule might not be opposed to sending military aid.”

Zelda stared. “Dad,” she said. “That’s kind of a big deal.”

“I know. It isn’t a decision I made lightly, Zelda. Something’s clearly wrong in Hyrule, and even if the royalists aren’t behind it, it would still be disastrous if Gerudo Valley fell on top of everything.”

“Do you think that’s likely to happen?” Link asked. He had never heard anyone refer to the royalists as anything more than an annoyance.

“Sereil’s worried, at the very least,” said the king. “Our people in Gerudo Valley have reported that their recruitment rates are picking up, but haven’t heard that they’re planning anything big.”

“So…” Zelda said, frowning. “Let’s just go over what we _do_ know for sure.”

The king nodded. “Yes, that sounds like a good idea. I wish I could write this down,” he sighed, “But that’s not really something I want lying around. We’ll just have to try and remember all of it. So far we know that there’s a strange inhuman woman named Iduri harvesting human essences.”

“And that she’s working for someone else,” said Link. “But we have no idea who or why.”

“The essences are being used to fuel spells attacking different world leaders. And Iduri is also harvesting fairy essences, but we don’t know why or for what,” added Impa. “We _think_ Iduri is a demon and that an initial fairy essence harvest by her masters is what brought her to our world in the first place, but we don’t really know. I don’t know what else Iduri could be, though.”

The king nodded. “We know the Triforce of Power has returned to the world, meaning Ganon has been reborn. But we don’t know if he is connected with Iduri or the essence crimes in any way.”

“We know that Ganon has always been a male Gerudo in the past, and there’s only one of those around, _and_ that he wants to steal the Gerudo throne,” said Zelda. “I think that’s it. Oh, and we know that someone involved is a magical genius, to figure out how to harvest essences and maybe even open portals to another world. I think the night Link and I were in the Ruins we decided that Iduri was being told what to do by more knowledgeable people behind the scenes, since the spells were so simple.”

“That’s what it was!” Link yelled suddenly, then turned red as everyone looked at him. He’d _known_ something was weird about Iduri using magic! “Iduri can use magic really well. She set up that trap for me, and she fought me with magic, hand to hand. So why the simple spell? Iduri could have handled something way more complicated, right?”

The king frowned. “To save time, maybe? I don’t know. I think there are more important issues at hand. For now, I suppose...well, I’ll try to gather more information on the royalists, Link will go investigate Zora Grotto, and Impa will...you wanted to teach Zelda magic, yes?”

Impa nodded eagerly. “No offense meant, your Majesty, but the royal family has almost completely forgotten how to use their power. You should really learn a thing or two as well.”

Ersten smiled. “Thank you for the offer, Impa, but I’m afraid I don’t have enough time. Speaking of, I’m very sorry, but there’s a Council session later today and I really need to go over budget proposals. Zelda, I agree with Impa that it’s important for you to understand your magic, but I fully expect you to be sitting in on that Council meeting, alright?”

“Yeah, Dad.”

The king stood. “One last thing before you all go. Link, I see you brought the guitar Impa gave you. Could you take it out for a minute?”

Confused, Link knelt and got the instrument out of its case.

“Probably the oldest song in Hyrulean memory is the one known as Zelda’s Lullaby. As you might guess, it was traditionally sung to the princess as a child when she could not sleep, but it has another purpose as well. It serves as a sort of code or signifier--it shows that the singer or player is a friend of the royal family. When I heard you had a magical instrument, I realized you really ought to know this song.”

Link tried not to smile at the thought of Ersten singing an infant Zelda to sleep, and listened to the song. It was a simple, beautiful tune that stuck in his head, and he learned it fairly quickly. In what seemed like no time at all he could play the entire thing without mistakes.

“I haven’t heard that song in years,” said Zelda, smiling fondly.

Ersten chuckled. “That’s because it’s been years since you had a tantrum whenever I tried to get you to go to bed.”

Zelda stuck her tongue out at him. “Don’t you have budget proposals to read?”

“Indeed I do. I’ll see you at three in the Council room, Zelda?”

“Yes,” she said.

The king bowed to them. “Until then. Have a good day, Impa. Safe travels, Link.”

“Oh, but I thought Link isn’t leaving yet,” said Zelda. “We have that...thing for him, right?”

He turned to her, confused and even more curious. “What thing?”

She grinned. “You’ll find out! Come with us to the gymnasium and all will be explained. See you, Dad.”

Link and Impa bowed to the king, and let Zelda drag both of them out of the office.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Freaking school making this chapter a day late. BUT Thanksgiving is this week, so I'll have lots of time to write!
> 
> Uhh yeah, this chapter was basically Link being a normal teenager for a bit, goodness knows he deserves it.


	13. Lessons and Gifts

Link circled the gymnasium, shoes scuffing on the mat, sword raised, eyes narrowed.

“You’re leaning too far forward,” said his opponent, a heavyset Hylian woman. “Put more weight on your back foot...good. Remember what I said about watching my torso, and...attack.”

He lunged forward, and she met his strike with one of her own, forcing his blade aside and tapping him lightly on the chest. “Again,” she said.

Link backed away and began circling her again. Clearly a straightforward attack wasn’t going to work, so maybe if he…

He swung at her waist, slow enough for her to block easily, then spun quickly to the side and struck again. She was quicker, though, twisting around and blocking him again. He caught her next blow with his shield, she ducked his returning strike and charged him, and then suddenly a sword was at his neck.

She gave him a few seconds to catch his breath, and then--”Again.”

This time he waited for her to attack him, and before long she did, breaking his guard and knocking him over with two well-placed strikes. “Your stance is still off,” she said, “But you’re doing better.”

“Better?” Link repeated in disbelief.

“Yeah, you had some nice blocks in there. And you aren’t dropping your guard as much anymore.” She smiled. “That’s enough for now, take five.”

Link gratefully crossed the room to grab a drink from the water fountain and then collapse on the floor. To think that half an hour ago he’d thought he was getting good at swordfighting...but he guessed anyone would look bad compared to a scholar who had been studying and practicing the art their entire life.

He was really grateful to the royal family for calling in an instructor for him. It was awesome to actually be _taught_ how to fight instead of having to figure it out on the go, and he didn’t want this lesson to end, but at the same time he was dying for it to be over. When his instructor proclaimed him ready he was going to get some mysterious prize, the _thing_ Zelda had mentioned earlier.

He tried to go over everything he’d just learned, but Impa and Zelda were practicing on the other end of the gym and he couldn’t help watching. He’d never seen a magic lesson before.

Impa was leaning against the wall and watching the princess, who had both hands held out in front of her and an expression of deep concentration on her face. “Okay,” said the Sheikah. “Envision the shield in front of you. _Will_ it to appear. Ready…”

Zelda nodded, breathed in, and a plane of gold light flashed in front of her for a brief moment as she flew backwards, landing flat on her back. Impa giggled. “Oh, and brace yourself too.”

Link got up, curiosity overcoming him. “Why did that happen?”

Both girls looked at him. “Oh hey, Link,” said Zelda, laughing self-deprecatingly as she stood up again. “Lessons are going well, as you can see. Apparently shield spells have a bit of a rebound.”

“They’re meant to block a lot of energy, whether it’s physical or magical,” Impa explained. “You need to feed a lot of magic into the shield, and so there’s a bit of a kickback.”

“Yeah, a _bit,_ ” said Zelda.

Impa grinned. “Oh, it’s not that bad. Look.” She moved away from the wall, planted one leg behind her, and snapped her arms out. Link gasped as a blue half-dome appeared in front of her. She held it for a few seconds, her whole body sturdy and unmoving, then dropped it. “You just need a good stance and a little practice.”

“You have magic?” Link burst out.

Impa gave him an amused look. “Link, I’m a _Sheikah,_ of course I do. And I’ve told you about my premonition and ability to sense the Triforce, haven’t I?”

“I mean yeah, but there’s all of that and then there’s _this._ ” Link pushed his hands out in an imitation of what Impa had just done. “I don’t get how there’s such a big controversy over whether the legendary magics are real, since it seems like everyone can secretly use them,” he added drily.

Zelda laughed. “Because we keep it super secret. Or, well, we did. But things have been pretty weird lately. Meaning we’re starting to actually _need_ that magic for the first time in hundreds of years.”

“Alright, enough talking,” said Impa. “Zelda, did you see how I was standing before? You want to make sure you’re balanced…”

Link watched them until his instructor called him back.

Countless rounds of sparring later, Link finally managed to meet one of her blows, forcing her sword arm up and away and making her stagger backwards a half-step. His sword was at her chest an instant later.

His instructor grinned. “Excellent.”

“Thanks,” Link said, flushing as he dropped his arm.

“Don’t get me wrong, you’ve still got a long way to go. You need to practice a lot. But you’ve improved in the past hour.”

Link nodded. “I will.”

“Good,” said his instructor. “Keep going over what we’ve done today, stop by in Castle Town to practice with me whenever you can, and maybe Hyrule will be alright.”

He shifted awkwardly, putting his sword back in its sheath. “I mean, I hope so.”

She clapped him on the shoulder. “It will. Don’t let this make you think you’re invincible or anything, but you’ve got a good instinct for this stuff.”

“Thanks,” Link said again, grinning.

“So I’ll see you back here the next time you’re in town?” Link nodded. “Excellent. And--oh, yes, the king told me to give you something when we were done here. Hang on.”

She crossed the room to a bag leaning against the wall, and Link stood on tiptoe trying to see what was inside, burning with curiosity. She leaned over, opened the bag, and pulled out something huge and metallic and shining.

It was a shield, silver surface painted blue, with the bird-and-Triforce symbol of the royal family on the front in red and yellow. It was, in fact, exactly like pictures of the shields that had supposedly been held by the heroes of Time and Twilight all those centuries ago.

Link was speechless as she handed it to him and he brushed reverent fingers over its surface. This was...he was...he felt, for the first time, like something more than a teenager running around with a sword. This was the king saying Link deserved to be mentioned in the same breath as those heroes of legend. He was the the next person on that long chain, stretching from the early days of history until now. He shared their destiny.

Zelda met his eyes and smiled. “Like it?”

“I--yes. Thank you, your Highness. Tell His Majesty thank you.”

“Dad wanted to do something to help you, since it’s a bit unfair to make you do all of this on your own. That’s why he got Mera to help--” she gestured at the woman, who bowed--”And got permission to get this old shield out of museum storage. It’s been treated with a protective spell, which is why it’s kept so well all this time, and as an added bonus that means it’s magic-proof! You’ll have an easier fight against Iduri next time,” she grinned, and Link grinned back.

“I just don’t know what to say. This is--it’s beautiful.” He slid the shield onto his arm and drew his sword again. It was a lot heavier than his old wooden one, but it felt good. He practiced a couple blocks until he was used to the new weight.

Impa took a few steps forward, looking closely at the shield. “It was in a museum? Where was it from originally? How old is it?”

“It was donated by a noble family about a hundred years ago,” said Zelda as Link took off his old shield and buckled the new one onto his back. “It belonged to one of their knights. This design was a popular one, because of the association with the hero. We thought Link needed a better shield than that old thing and, well, this seemed fitting.”

“Very fitting,” Impa said.

Mera nodded her agreement. “It suits you, Link. Your Highness, if I may take my leave?”

“Of course, Mera,” said the princess. “Thank you.”

“Yeah, thanks so much!” Link piped in. “I’ll see you in a couple days, probably.”

The woman bowed and smiled. “It was nice to meet you, Link.” 

As the door closed behind her, Impa said--“Your Highness, we should get back to the lesson.”

Zelda shook her head. “I’m sorry, Impa, but I’ve got that Council meeting at three.”

“But it isn’t even two,” the Sheikah protested.

“I really should shower and change before then, and we haven’t eaten lunch yet, and I need to say goodbye to Link. Link, are you leaving to Zora Grotto today?”

Link thought about it. “I don’t know, your Highness. I really wanted to visit Doman and Ania--my friends from school. If that doesn’t take too long I’ll head out tonight. So you’re right, I should get going.”

“Of course it’s not that I want to kick you out,” said Zelda apologetically, “And I wish you didn’t have to leave now, but I have that meeting, and I assume you don’t want to sit around doing nothing while I’m there. And you do really need to get moving.”

She sounded genuinely regretful, like she really didn’t want him to go, and Link barely managed to hide a smile. “Yeah, don’t worry about it. I’ll see you when I get back.”

“Nah, we’re not saying goodbye yet,” said Zelda. “I’ll walk you out.”

“I should probably go back to my room,” said Impa. “My family wants me to call them every day and I haven’t even started unpacking…so I’ll see you, Link?”

He offered her a hand, which she ignored in favor of a hug. Link grinned and hugged her back. “Have fun unpacking.”

Impa waved and left, and Link began gathering up his things. “Um, what do I do with this?” he asked, holding up his old shield.

Zelda held out a hand. “I’ll take it.”

He passed it over. “Thanks, your Highness. So, how have you been? You know everything I’ve been up to, but I feel like I’ve hardly heard anything from you.”

“That’s because it hasn’t been interesting,” she laughed. “It’s just been attending meetings, doing schoolwork, reading reports...I never thought that so much useless information about the royalists could even exist.” She gestured towards the gymnasium entrance, and Link held the door open for her. “Thank you, sir hero,” she said with an overly dramatic bow.

He blushed, and followed her down the hallway. “Are they all really that useless, your Highness?”

“For me, mostly, yeah,” she sighed. “Like, I don’t think the fact that over forty percent of its members are between the ages of 18 and 25 is going to do much to prove that Azaren is after the Triforce.”

“True,” he laughed.

The gym was right near one of the many side doors out of the castle; a guard waved them past and they began crossing the grounds. “I mean, I would be reading them anyway, I go over all the intelligence reports my dad receives. I’ve just been focusing so much on the royalists lately…”

“Huh,” said Link. “I didn’t realize princesses had homework.”

“I _am_ training to help run a country, you know,” said Zelda. “There’s a lot I need to learn.”

“And you have normal schoolwork on top of that, your Highness?”

She nodded. “It would be a really lame Queen who didn’t even have a high school degree. I’ll take college courses from home, too. Dad has a doctorate in law, I have absolutely no idea how he had the time to do that.”

Link actually had known that. Hyrule was proud of their scholarly king. “He seems to work really hard.”

“He does,” Zelda smiled. “I think he cares about Hyrule more than anyone else alive.”

“Which is sort of necessary in a king.”

Zelda laughed. “Pretty much. But...yeah, that’s all that’s really been going on with me. We’ve been looking tirelessly for any connection between the royalists and the attacks that have been going on in Hyrule. We haven’t found _anything_. If Azaren has been putting Iduri up to this, he’s staying _far_ in the background. Oh, and Dad’s been conferring with scientists about those orbs we found. They haven’t found much that’s useful to us, but they’re starting to understand how they work. Once the spell’s been etched onto the glass, anyone can use it. The only real problem is getting the victim to lie still for long enough to set the spell in motion.”

“So...you need someone good at combat magic, your Highness. Okay, so that’s why they need Iduri, I guess. She can get them lots of essences, and quickly. She could not know anything about theoretical magic, but once she’s been given the capsules she doesn’t need to know anything else.”

Zelda jammed her hands in her pockets. “But none of that is _useful_. We’re figuring all this stuff out and we’re still no closer to being able to understanding what’s happening, let alone how to stop it.”

Link didn’t remember when they’d stopped walking and moved to the side of the path, but they now stood next to a tall fence that surrounded the castle tennis courts. He idly watched the two people who were playing a match while he thought of what to say. “But breaking the spell in Zora Grotto will be a good thing. It isn’t that we don’t know what to do, it’s that we don’t know if there’s something _better_ we should be doing. So if I just keep doing what I’m doing, that isn’t so bad, is it?”

“I guess,” she said, looking down at her feet. “It’s just...what you said Iduri told you. That we have no idea what they’re really doing. It, well, it worries me.”

He felt a sudden, surprising urge to put a comforting hand on her shoulder. “We’re trying to find out more as fast as we can, your Highness,” he said quickly, in an attempt to push the feeling back. “And that’s all we really can do right now. Think of how much more we know now, compared to before I left to Goron City. I’m sure we’ll learn even more as time goes on.”

“I still wish I could come with you,” said Zelda. “You’ve done so much more to help than I have sitting at home.”

“Well, you’re learning how to govern a country, aren’t you? That sounds way more useful than running around with a sword like an idiot.”

Zelda laughed. “I will admit, you do look a little out of place. But you’re good with that thing. I saw you practicing before--you’re much more comfortable using it now.”

“You know,” Link sighed, “If someone had come up to me five days ago and told me that I would soon be reasonably competent at swordfighting, I would have given them a really _weird_ look.”

“Are you happier now?” Zelda asked. “Is this what you want?”

He was silent for a moment, taken aback. “Huh,” he finally said. “I don’t think I’ve ever really thought about it, your Highness. I just know I’ve been chosen to do a job, so I’m going to do it. What I think doesn’t really matter.”

“That’s what I’d say if someone asked me if I was happy being a princess,” said Zelda thoughtfully.

“That reminds me of something Iduri said--that I never had a choice about being the hero. That it was a curse from the Goddesses. ‘Your life has never been your own.’”

Zelda rubbed her chin. “I...maybe. No one’s making either of us do anything, though. You could have stayed home and ignored all of this. I could run away from home and disguise myself and become an acrobat.” Link snorted. “But then Hyrule wouldn’t have an heir, or a hero. We’re bound by our own sense of responsibility, even if it ultimately is our choice.”

Link looked up into her dark brown eyes. “Do you...do you think the Goddesses were cruel or kind in giving us this responsibility?” It seemed awful to even question their intent, but it wasn’t like anyone could stop themselves from wondering.

“I think only time will tell,” said Zelda. “Let’s see how we’re doing are when all of this is over.”

“Hopefully soon,” said Link.

They looked at each other for a moment longer, and then Zelda glanced down at her watch. “Crap, I’ve only got 45 minutes until the Council meeting. We’ve got to go. C’mon, Link.”

He followed her down the path, still deep in thought.

 

Link took the train back home, messaged Doman and Ania that he was free and wanted to see them, and showered. By the time he was clean and wearing a fresh pair of jeans and layered t-shirts, they had both answered him. A little more back-and-forth gave them plans to meet at a local cafe where they often hung out.

He left his house, whistling happily. He couldn’t remember the last time he’d gone more than a couple days without seeing both of his friends--Ania would sometimes leave for some program or meet, and Doman would visit his family in Goron City, but almost never at the same time. He’d missed them, and he couldn’t wait to tell them everything that had happened to him lately.

As he turned the corner he suddenly realized the tune he was whistling was Zelda’s Lullaby. He stopped immediately--if the song was a kind of secret code he probably shouldn’t be doing that in public--but with a little bit of regret. It was a really pretty song that, in Link’s opinion, demanded to be heard. And it was stuck rather firmly in his head.

Finally he came to the Castle Town Cafe, a homey little place squeezed between a dentist’s office and a drug store. His stomach growled as he pushed the door open--he hadn’t eaten anything since before he left for the castle. What would he get? Pizza always worked, but their sandwiches were good too…

“Link!”

His friends’ voices jolted him out of his thoughts, and he grinned as he sat down at their booth. “Hi! It’s so good to see you guys!”

Doman grinned as he crushed Link’s arm in a handshake. “You too, brother.”

“Not me,” said Ania, completely deadpan. “You’re pretty much the worst.”

Link rolled his eyes.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Impa leaving Link and Zelda alone near the end of the chapter--coincidence or being an awesome wingman? Who knows? I sure don't.


	14. Zora Grotto

“So Link,” said Ania. “How goes the kingdom-saving?”

He reached over and grabbed one of her fries. “Alright, I think?” He dunked the fry in some mayonnaise and ate the whole thing in one bite. “Either everything’s fine or Hyrule’s on the brink of disaster, we’re not sure which.” He took a couple more fries and practically inhaled them.

“That’s...reassuring?” said Doman, bemused.

“Very.” He went for another fry, but Ania swatted his hand away. 

“Get your own food. And who’s ‘we’?”

Link gave a long-suffering sigh. “Fiiine. ‘We’ means me and Aerra and Princess Zelda and King Ersten and Impa, mostly.”

Ania narrowed her eyebrows. “Impa? Who’s that?”

“You mean the girl who risked her life to save that Goron school? It was in the news,” he added in answer to Link’s questioning look.

“Yeah. She--you know what, this is gonna take way too long to explain. Let me get some food first, since _someone_ isn’t a good sharer.” Ania stuck out her tongue as Link stood and grabbed his wallet.

He ordered a toasted sandwich, fries, and soft drink, and told his friends who Impa was and his adventures in the Sandstone Canyon while he waited for his food. He had just started detailing his battle with Lupyra when his number was called up at the counter, and as they all finished their meals he told them about the fight with Iduri and the morning he’d spent at the castle.

“I can’t believe you talked to her,” said Doman, taking a bite of a fist-sized rock like Link would do to an apple. “I never saw her at all. I just saw everyone running and screaming, and I hid behind a table, and there was a loud crash, then suddenly I was awake in the hospital. I guess she was still being careful not to be seen then.”

Ania put a hand on Doman’s arm. “I wonder what changed,” she said.

Link frowned thoughtfully. “Either...either they knew after Castle Town that we were on to them and it didn’t matter, like we’d figured out that they were harvesting essences and using them to make spells, or Impa’s interference in the big Goron City attack really threw a wrench in things.”

“Is Impa really a Sheikah?” Ania leaned forward, dark blue eyes wide and interested.

Link nodded. “Tattoos and magic and all.”

“Where have they _been_ all these centuries?”

“They’re mysterious and live in the shadows,” said Doman. “That’s like, their whole _thing_. They show up when the royal family is in trouble and the rest of the time it’s like they don’t exist.”

Link slurped up the last few drops of his drink. “Impa didn’t say much about where she’s from, and I didn’t want to pry...I think someone said she came from the west, all the way past Death Mountain.”

Ania wiped ketchup off her plate with a fry. “It’s just wilderness out there.”

“Well, I guess it’s not _all_ wilderness,” Doman grinned. “So, Zora Grotto is next, Link?”

He nodded. “And then this will all be over? Maybe? I mean, there will probably be some final showdown of some sort. There’s that other plan they supposedly have, that could be like their trump card.”

“If Goron City only took you a few days...hey, you could be back in school by next week, brother.”

Link made a face. “The _one_ downside to Hyrule being saved.”

“I cannot believe you prefer fighting monsters to sitting in literature class,” Doman laughed.

“ _I’d_ prefer possible death to one of Mrs. Raylen’s lectures,” said Ania thoughtfully. “Working on our history essay is pretty awful, too.”

Link winced. He was _not_ looking forward to having to make up that essay. “I never ended up picking sources that day…”

Ania laughed. “Focus on saving the world first, maybe.”

He squirmed a little on his seat. “I don’t know about the _world._ ”

“Oh yeah, it’s just Hyrule for now,” Doman grinned. “Starting small.”

“Come on, you guys.”

Doman raised his eyebrows as he took a sip from his drink. “What, your own friends can’t tease you about being the hero? I’m pretty sure that’s our _job._ ”

“We’re not kidding when we talk about you saving the world,” said Ania. “We know you’ve got it covered. It’s just, come on, you have to admit it sounds ridiculous and surreal on the surface.”

Their unquestioning faith in him made his chest grow warm. “It still seems crazy to me, too. Like I’m gonna wake up one day and realize this was a crazy dream and I have to hurry to school.”

Doman piled his empty plate and glass on top of Ania’s. “No such luck, brother. There’s still some crazy lady running around stealing people’s souls, and Ganon off doing his evil Ganon thing somewhere.”

“Everyone at school’s been kind of freaking out about the attacks and everything going on in Gerudo Valley,” said Ania. “There’s this feeling of impending doom going around… everyone’s on edge.”

“And we’re just like ‘nah, Link’s taking care of it, only we can’t tell you that because it’s a secret.’ Oh yeah, brother, people are starting to talk about a boy in green going around and waking up the victims, but it isn’t widespread and no one knows it’s you.”

Link had gathered as much from the way Zeyona had recognized him. “Thanks for the vote of confidence. Means a lot.” Doman and Ania knew him better than probably anyone else, they knew full well he was just an ordinary person, and they _still_ believed in him.

Doman grinned. “You’ll kick Ganon to the curb.”

“I really, really hope so,” he said as he took one last bite of his sandwich and stacked his plate on top of his friends’. “But you said everyone at school’s freaking out?”

Ania nodded. “The attacks really spooked them. A bunch of people had relatives or friends who were victims, and then there was Doman…”

“I was the only student in Northern Castle Town High to get knocked out,” said Doman. “And even after we’d all woken up, still no one knew who had done it or why. And there have been lots more monsters around lately. It just seems like--”

“Something’s building,” said Link. “Yeah. I know.”

“But the good news is that our magical sciences test got moved to the end of next week, because everyone’s been so distracted,” Doman said brightly.

He’d completely forgotten about that exam. “So if I really am back in school in the next few days, I won’t miss the test. Awww.”

“Just get another note from the king,” said Doman. “Take advantage of that resource while you can!”

Link laughed. “Ganon? Bring it. Science test? Oh Goddesses _no._ ”

“That’s our Link,” said Ania. “If Ganon challenges you to a written exam instead of a swordfight, Hyrule is _doomed._ ”

Doman looked around theatrically. “Shh, not so loud! Don’t give him any ideas!”

Link stuck out his tongue. “Oh, go do your homework.”

“Actually, we really should.” Ania leaned back in her chair and sighed. “We’ll think of you while we slave over practice problems.”

Link stood and picked up the stack of their empty plates and glasses. “And I’ll think of you while I’m getting knocked around by Bokoblins.”

“We’ll see you in a couple days?” Doman asked.

“Probably? I don’t know how long it’ll take to deal with everything in Zora Grotto…I’ll be back as soon as I can.”

Ania pulled her sweatshirt back on. “Leave some time for exploring, at least. Have you ever seen the glass tunnel that goes under the lake? It’s like a free aquarium.”

He nodded. “I went my first time visiting Zora Grotto, but that was years ago. I’ll swing by again if I can. Oh, and I got some _really_ good fried fish.”

“The Zora do seafood the best,” Ania agreed. “I miss Zora Grotto; I haven’t been in a while.”

“Maybe we can take a day trip after all of this,” said Link, and went put their dishes on the front counter.

Ania smiled. “I’d love that.”

Doman stood, slinging his backpack over his shoulder. “Well, this has been fun, but some of us have real lives to get back to.”

Link punched his friend’s arm good-naturedly. “Yeah, me. I’m the one going out and actually doing things while you two are running through a practice simulation for adulthood.”

“Go on, young hero,” said Doman, mock dramatically. “Go forth and fulfill thy destiny.”

“Will do,” he winked. “Alright, let’s get out of here.”

They said their goodbyes outside the cafe, talking on the sidewalk for a few minutes, and then parted ways. Link went back home to pick up Aerra and the rest of his things, and then immediately headed back out. It was early afternoon already, he needed to get moving if he wanted to get to Zora Grotto before it got dark.

“How was lunch?” Aerra asked as they got on the local train.

“Great,” said Link. “You were okay by yourself?”

She nodded vigorously. “I ate the yogurt you left me and I read one of your books. I think it was a textbook, I couldn’t understand any of it. But I liked the pictures!”

That’d be his magical sciences textbook. He’d left it on the kitchen table forever ago. “Okay, glad you were alright.”

“Was it nice to see your friends again?”

Link smiled. “Yeah, for sure. It was really nice just hanging out with them, getting lunch like a normal person. I didn’t have to worry about figuring anything out or saving anyone. We joked about everything that’s been happening.”

“Cool!” said Aerra. “I wanna see them next time.”

“For sure,” said Link. “But let’s not think about coming back right now. We haven’t even left yet, and there’s a lot we have to do.”

“We’re gonna check on the fairy fountain that’s near Lake Hylia, right? And then ask around Zora Grotto if anyone’s seen Iduri?”

Link sighed. “And that’s just _today. _”__

She looked up at him earnestly. “Then we’ll find Iduri and break the spell and make her tell us what she did with my family and then soon we can go home!”

“One thing at a time, Aerra,” he laughed.

  


Link had been counting on something crazy happening, because that was how his life seemed to work lately, but they made it to Zora Grotto without any disasters. Even finding the fairy fountain was a breeze. Aerra had never been there herself, but she knew it was behind a big waterfall in the river that led to Lake Hylia, so locating it was short work.

The fountain was monster-infested just as the other two had been, and completely devoid of any evidence of life once Link had cleared out the Bokoblins. Link had been hoping they’d be in time to save the fairies at least once, but it was looking like Iduri was way ahead of them.

While they were wandering Hyrule Field, Link found one of the Sheikah marks Impa had told him about before. The eye-and-teardrop was etched into the wall of the canyon the river flowed through, and Link had needed to wade into the water to reach it. He felt kind of stupid standing in the middle of a river, barefoot and with rolled-up jeans, playing guitar at nothing, but forgot all of that instantly when the symbol flashed and a heart piece popped out of the wall.

He kept his eyes peeled for more of the marks as they traveled, and so by the time he and Aerra came to the tunnel that led down to Zora Grotto, he was several hundred Rupees richer and had a bigger ammunition pouch for his slingshot.

The Ruto Tunnel was always fun to travel, though he had never done so on foot before. It cut close to the river as it went underground to Zora Grotto, and rushing water underlaid the noise of passing trains.

He was alone on the narrow sidewalk besides the tracks. Was it just that hardly anyone ever walked into town, or were people afraid to go outside? These attacks really had everyone freaked out. Doman and Ania were right.

There had been a huge attack in Castle Town right before he’d gotten involved in all of this, and another one in Goron City when he’d gone to break the spell there. So he should be expecting something to go down in Zora Grotto soon, right? Maybe it had already happened. He should probably try to talk to Zora authorities first thing. King Ersten and Elder Goramin had given him help, maybe President Oruta would be willing as well.

The tunnel opened out into an enormous cavern. A wide waterfall poured into a lake from above; along the shores were buildings and streets made from smooth stone. Lights strung across the cave ceiling shimmered off the surface of the lake and gave the place a warm glow.

“The Zora live in a cave, too?” Aerra leaned so far forward out of his pocket that Link worried she might fall. He nearly moved his hand up to catch her before he remembered she could fly.

“I guess they do,” he said. “I never thought of it like that. But a volcano is pretty different from a lake.”

“Yeah. We should get exploring and ask everyone if they’ve seen Iduri,” she urged. 

Link agreed. Iduri would definitely be expecting them again, and she would probably be planning something much bigger in order to try and stop them. “First things first, though,” he said. “We’ve been hiking around Hyrule Field forever, and I for one need to sit down for a little and get something to eat. Maybe we’ll overhear something useful, like we did in the Milk Bar.”

  


They did not find out anything while Link and Aerra rested and ate fish stew from a local diner.

Nor while they wandered the streets of Zora Grotto, asking passers-by what they knew.

Reading through local newspapers only told them that there had been small attacks here and there, only taking one or two people at a time, but nothing more.

The president’s office was closed to tourists this late in the afternoon, and the security guards just told him to get lost when he said he had a warning for President Oruta.

“This is stupid,” Link announced, half-falling on a streetside bench. “I thought the problem would be _defeating_ the evil, not trying to find it in the first place.”

“Maybe we were too good,” said Aerra. “I think we made Iduri realize that going all-out isn’t going to work, because we’ll just beat her. In Goron City she didn’t care who saw her, but that just let us find her base. Maybe now she’s hiding.”

“Probably,” Link said. “Oh, you know what I need to do? I need to talk to King Ersten. He can get me an audience with President Oruta, if anyone can.” He stood. “I wish I’d thought of this earlier, but oh well. Come on, let’s find a magiscreen.”

Link wished he had some way to contact the king directly, but the best he could do was send Zelda a quick message explaining the situation. He _really_ hoped King Ersten would be able to sort things out before tomorrow. If not he’d spend the day exploring, but he didn’t think that would be very productive.

He closed the messenger page and pulled up the city map. He needed a cheap motel...well, with the rupees he’d found today he could afford something rather less cheap, but he never knew when he would need that money. Oh, that bottle he’d found in the antiques store in Kakariko! He’d forgotten he’d even found that.

Okay, there was a place just a couple blocks away that looked good. He traced the route in his mind a couple times until he had it down, and then--

“Excuse me?”

Link whirled around to see a young Gerudo woman smiling politely at him. “Um, hi,” was all he could think to say. There were plenty of reasons for a Gerudo to be in a tourist spot like downtown Zora Grotto, but he couldn’t help thinking of the royalists.

She cocked her head. “You’re that boy everyone’s been talking about.” It wasn’t a question.

“I am...why do you ask?” Something about her was familiar. That confident half-smile, the shoulder-length softly curling hair, the sharp gold eyes...he knew it, but he couldn’t place it.

“People said you were looking for a strange blue woman.”

Link sighed. There just wasn’t any way to stay under the radar, was there? “I am.”

The woman--the girl? she looked about eighteen or nineteen--nodded. “Could you tell me what you know about her? She’s the one carrying out the attacks, right?”

She wanted to know more about the attacks. About Iduri. Why…?

_That_ was why she looked familiar, and why he'd thought of the royalists when he'd seen her. “You--you’re Azaren’s girlfriend!” Should he be worried? She seemed nice enough, and she wasn’t supposed to be a royalist, right? Maybe she didn’t know Azaren was Ganon.

She rolled her eyes. “My one claim to fame, yes. And I’ve got a name, you know.” Link started to apologize, blushing, but she grinned and held out a hand. “I’m Dorra. And you are?”

“Link,” he said, and shook. “Why do you want to know about--about the blue woman?” Should he tell her Iduri’s name? Should he tell her anything? Maybe Azaren was using her to find out what Link knew.

“I want to know what’s going on,” said Dorra. “These attacks have been getting worse and worse. There haven’t been any in Gerudo Valley yet, but everyone’s been talking about it back at home.” There hadn’t been any attacks on the Gerudo? More evidence that the royalists were to blame. “Everyone’s been talking a _lot,_ ” Dorra continued wryly.

“What are they saying?” Link asked, trying desperately to sound casual.

Dorra crossed her arms, eyes narrowing, and Link worried that he’d said too much. “Just the usual sort of thing they say about Az,” she said in the same wry, sardonic voice. “There’s never any truth to it.”

The Gerudo thought Azaren was behind the attacks! He needed to find out more. “Well...I don’t know much more than you do,” said Link. “I’ve spoken with her, but she didn’t tell me much.” If Azaren was Ganon, he surely already knew that.

She leaned forward, eyes widening. “You’ve seen her face-to-face? But she supposedly keeps away from people!”

“All that really happened was that she tried to kill me and it didn’t work, and then she ran away again,” Link said.

“ _Still,_ ” said Dorra, sweeping one arm wide. “You’re the first person I’ve spoken to who’s seen her for more than a split second. Now I know she’s _real_. All I had before this was a couple of witnesses from days-old attacks who _think_ they saw a blue figure dash out of sight in the Industrial Park uptown.”

Link’s heart leapt. “They have?”

“Calm down, it’s not much to go on,” said Dorra. “I went down there myself earlier today and found nothing. But who knows?”

“It’s certainly worth a try.” Well, she’d given him useful information...would she do that if she were really answering to Azaren? Surely not. Then she was doing the exact thing Link was--trying to find a connection between Iduri and the royalists. “Thank you. I...hope you find the answers you’ve been looking for.”

Dorra nodded. “Thank you. I would come with you, but I need to get back to Gerudo Valley before my friends notice I’m nowhere in town.”

By ‘friends’ did she mean Azaren? She must. She wouldn’t be here, trying to find out the truth, unless she thought there was some legitimacy to the rumors. Did she suspect who he was, or just that he was involved in the attacks? “Investigating this must really mean a lot to you,” he said cautiously.

Dorra gave a smile that was just a little too big and bright. “Well, I _know_ what I’ll find in the end because I know Az, and what he would and wouldn’t do. It’s just that he’s said one or two things that--anyway.” She continued before Link could pounce on that statement. “Link, I have to leave this city soon, but if there’s any way you could tell me if you find out anything at all about who is behind these attacks and why they are happening, that would be extremely helpful. Could you do that?”

“Um, alright,” said Link, who didn’t really know what else he could say.

Now her smile was more genuine. “Thank you, Link. It was nice to meet you.”

And then she turned and was gone.

“Huh,” said Link.

Aerra pulled herself out of his pocket. “That’s not what I expected Azaren’s girlfriend to be like.”

“Me either. But it was lucky we ran into her.”

“Sure was,” said Aerra. “I wonder if she’ll be mad when she finds out she’s dating Ganon.”

“I think she’s already starting to guess,” said Link thoughtfully.

Aerra didn’t seem to have heard him. “Are we gonna go to the Industrial Park now or wait until tomorrow? It’ll be dark soon.”

Link took a deep breath, thinking about it. “I think...we don’t have any time to waste. Although the place might not be open at night. You know what, let’s get ourselves organized first. We’ll check into the motel and drop off all the stuff we don’t need for dungeon-crawling, and ask around about the Park.”

“Sounds like a plan! I’m glad we finally know what to do now.”

“Me too,” said Link.

They set off.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, turns out a combination of finals, participation in several fandoms' Secret Santas, and an original work I really need to get done is NOT conducive to getting any work done on this at all. I'm sorry! I can't promise this will never happen again, especially once the new semester starts, but I CAN promise that I will keep writing whenever I can. This thing is nearing the 100-page mark and I'm still excited about working on it, and I am definitely sticking with it until the end.
> 
> Thanks for your patience and (as always) thanks for reading :)


	15. Zora Industrial Park

_Hey Link,_

_Glad to hear you’re doing alright! I can’t believe you’ve been gone almost six hours and nothing horrible or dangerous has happened to you yet. You must be so unused to the feeling. (I kid.)_

_I showed Dad your message and he got in contact with the Zora government. Unfortunately you can’t meet with President Oruta because she’s out of town, but they’re happy to share any information they have on the Zora Grotto attacks. (Guess they’re hoping you’ll do all their work for them like you did for Castle Town and Goron City…) They warn that it won’t be much--there haven’t been any big, out-in-the-open attacks against the Zora. Wonder why that is...guess you scared them!_

_Anyway, if you show up to City Hall tomorrow at 5pm, someone will be there to go over the Zora Grotto attacks for you. They said it would probably be the Chief of Police. In the meantime, they gave Dad a list of all the information available to the public about the attacks, to pass onto you. It’s just where all the attacks have been and who the victims were, but maybe it’ll help. So there you are! Hope it helps. If not, just keep your eyes open and an ear to the ground._

_Good luck, Link! Remember Dad and I are always happy to help you in any way we can._

_-Zelda_

_P.S. So I know I said maybe they were lying low because they’re scared of you. But I’ve also been thinking maybe they’re...pulling back, or regrouping. To prepare for something bigger. I didn’t want to worry you, especially since I don’t know what we would do if I was right, but I think maybe it’s just something worth thinking about. Worth keeping in your head._

_P.P.S. I really don’t want to end this on a depressing note, so: Why can’t a bicycle stand on its own? It’s two-tired. Heh._

Link rolled his eyes, a smile tugging at his mouth. “That’s just awful.”

Aerra flew over from the other side of the motel room. “What is? What is?”

He read her the joke, and then the rest of the message.

“Tomorrow afternoon?” Aerra exclaimed. “That’s in _forever!_ ”

Link closed the messages window and switched off the screen. “I know. What are we going to do until then?”

Aerra landed on the bed and sat cross-legged. “Let’s look at the information they attached, for now.”

Link nodded and opened the file. The list wasn’t very long, as he’d expected. He started reading--

“Aerra!” He pointed at the very first item.

The fairy flew close to the screen. “Zora Indus-industri-industrial?” Link nodded. “Zora Industrial Park! Link! The first ever attack was in the Industrial Park!”

He grinned. “I know! Looks like Dorra was right. That’s where the spell is, it’s got to be.”

“Let’s go there right now! Come on!”

Link winced. He was so tired already... “Remember I asked the front desk? It closed for the night a couple hours ago. And they said there have been monster infestations there, so this won’t be an easy trip.”

“That probably isn’t stopping Iduri,” said Aerra, and Link had to admit she had a point.

“So like, what, you think we’ll just see her hanging around the place?”

“Maybe,” said Aerra. “She’s probably in there working on the spell right now.”

Link groaned and stood up. “If we go out now, we won’t be back for hours. And it’s already past 8pm.”

Aerra darted to the floor and dragged his sneakers over by the laces, leaving them next to his feet. “We’ll just go and check it out! Come on! What else are we gonna do tonight! I don’t want to just sit here and watch a movie if Iduri’s out doing something awful.”

Link took the shoes and began putting them on. “Yeah, you’re right. What should we take with us? The torch and whip and slingshot, obviously, but what else? Should we take food?”

“Yeah!” said Aerra. “I always like snacks.”

He ended up packing a bag of granola, a water bottle, and a bagel. The rest of the food he left in the motel room fridge. He wasn’t expecting to be gone long enough to eat anything he’d brought, but it was always good to be prepared.

He buckled on his sword and shield, and put on his hat. “Shall we?”

Aerra tucked herself into her usual spot in his shirt pocket. “We shall!”

 

Zora Grotto looked beautiful at night. Without the sunlight seeping in from above, the city lights seemed even brighter. The place sparkled. Link noticed all sorts of things he hadn’t during the day--the clear blue stones embedded as decoration in the pavement, the houses and businesses close to the lake that had underwater doors as well as ones above ground, the way the Zora swam up the waterfall to get from one level of the grotto to another.

He kind of wished he had decided to wait until morning to continue with his mission. He wanted to explore the city, see the sights. He’d spent the whole morning training and the whole afternoon walking here from Castle Town, and he was exhausted.

But he knew none of that really meant anything when so much was at stake.

Link couldn’t take the waterfall up like the Zora. He made his way along the stone staircase that wound around the outskirts of the city. The Industrial Park was on the upper level of Zora Grotto, along with most of the offices and warehouses in the city. Link hadn’t gone up there while he’d been asking around, since he’d figured he’d find more people around smaller businesses and shops and restaurants.

The streets at the top of the stairs were wider, plainer, and mostly empty. It seemed most of the people who worked up there had gone home for the night. Link made his way to the park, footsteps echoing in the silence. The only interruption happened when he saw something gleaming out of the corner of his eye, and found a Sheikah symbol carved into the cave wall. He hadn’t thought to bring his guitar, so he would have to come back later.

Soon he came to the spot he’d found earlier on the magiscreen map--a wide, gated-off driveway. Link stared at it for a couple minutes, but could see no way to get past. The gate was three times as tall as he was, and completely smooth. He tried to grab onto the top of it with his whip, thinking he could pull himself up and over, but couldn’t get a grip.

He circled around the surrounding streets, trying to find another way in. For a little while it seemed like the front entrance was the only way in. There were walls all around the park, all as impassable as the gate. 

But a chance look upwards made him notice that there were a couple buildings inside the Park that came awfully close to the wall, and some of the windows had things like the Hyrulean flag or a flowerbox hanging out.

A couple minutes’ trying with the whip got him a good hold on a flagpole, and he managed to rappel up the wall. The building didn’t leave a big enough gap for him to drop down, so he balanced awkwardly on the walltop as he attached the whip to a higher windowsill and continued climbing, finally pulling himself onto the roof.

He _really_ hoped there weren’t any security guards around, seeing as he was literally breaking and entering.

“Do you see anything?” Aerra asked, worriedly.

“No, the place looks deserted,” said Link. “Do you think I can make a jump to that building over there?”

Aerra peered out at the roof in question. “I...I wouldn’t try it.”

Alright, so he’d have to get down somehow. The single door on his roof was locked. He walked away from the wall, to the other side of the building. There was enough room for him to fit on this side--in fact there was something of a plaza on this side, ringed by a couple other buildings. That sounded like a good place to start.

Climbing down was far more nerve-wracking than going up. He was sure for most of the process that he was going to fall, but he dropped down to the ground with no trouble. He straightened up and looked around. There seemed to be no way out of the plaza except through the surrounding buildings. So he would either have to break into one of them or climb over again…

A loud noise made him jump and draw his sword. The front doors to one of the buildings opened and people began pouring out--

Gerudo. They were all Gerudo. The royalists?

“Link!” Aerra yelled, panicked, as they were surrounded.

“I know--” Had Dorra led them into a trap? Or had she not known about this? _Not now,_ he told himself. _It is so not the time for this!_

The Gerudo all held out a hand, and he saw all eight of them were wearing a black glove that glimmered with magic. _Gauntlets,_ he thought, his heart sinking. _Military grade weapons? Where did they get_ those _?_

“Stand down,” said one of them coldly. She looked only a couple years older than Link.

His mind was racing. He was surrounded, and they all had long-range weapons. Giving himself up to Ganon was unthinkable, but how was he supposed to get out of this one? His new shield was magicproof, but there were so many of them…

There was really only one thing he could do. He took a deep breath and brought up his shield. 

“Come and get me,” he said, and dropped to the floor when he saw several hands flex.

Magic blasts roared over his back. As he rolled and got to his feet with his shield over his head, he hoped that some of them had accidentally hit each other, but he didn’t think so. A couple of the Gerudo rushed towards him, and he slammed his foot into one of them and slashed out towards the other. The one he’d kicked fell, and he jumped over her body. He needed to get his back to the wall, or he would never win this fight.

Not all of them had shot at him. They weren’t as coordinated or organized as they pretended they were. They’d been surprised when he hadn’t surrendered immediately. And the Gerudo he’d attacked with his sword had jumped away from him rather than attack back.

They were being careful. They were _intimidated_ by him.

Good.

Link heard the low roar of a gauntlet preparing to fire, and he spun around and blocked the shot. It rebounded off his shield and crashed into the ground, making a couple of the Gerudo jump in surprise.

They regrouped and began closing in on him, gauntlets held out. Link edged backwards until he felt his back press against one of the buildings, then ducked as low as he could when they fired, hoping desperately that his shield covered all of him It did, and as he straightened up he saw that a couple of the Gerudo had been hit by the reflected blasts.

He charged forward, not wanting to give them any time to think. He didn’t know too much about gauntlets, but if the movies were right then there was a couple seconds’ cooldown between each shot. He got a couple hits in before he had to back away again and block another round of magic.

He’d already dropped--two of them? Three? It was hard to tell in the confusion. They seemed to be getting in each other’s way more than anything. _That’ll teach them to fight someone eight on one,_ he thought.

One of the Gerudo tried to blast him point-blank as he attacked her, and he just barely managed to get his shield up in time. The shot deflected almost straight up, and he heard it crash into the ceiling of the grotto as he lunged forward, driving her arm down and striking her in the stomach. As she stumbled Link heard a gauntlet sound off behind him, and he turned just in time to block another shot, then had to do the same thing again as a third Gerudo circled behind him.

Okay, it was definitely time to get back to the wall. He edged backwards, clutching his shield in a death grip. Now that he had fewer enemies to deal with he could actually concentrate on how he angled his shield, and try to send their attacks straight back at them. He managed a couple hits that way, and even managed to down another Gerudo.

He rushed forward to attack again, and one of them fired rapidly at his feet, making him jump out of the way. He slammed his shield into her before she could get off another shot, and she fell.

Link whirled around and stabbed out at another one of them. She backed away, eyes wide, and Link felt a surge of triumph as he pressed forward. She was afraid of him, _he’d made her afraid,_ and now he would--

No.

Link took a half-step backwards, putting the three remaining Gerudo in his line of sight, and lowered his sword. “Wait!”

The one he’d just been attacking gave him a wary, incredulous look. “What is it?”

“It’s just--we don’t have to do this,” said Link. “If you think this is a fight you won’t win, then you can go.”

“You’re the one who’s supposed to be surrendering,” snapped another Gerudo.

“But I won’t,” said Link. Could he get through to them? “If we fight this out, I think we all know how it’s going to turn out. We can stop this right now, no one has to get h--”

He broke off as he saw one of the Gerudo flex their hand. He turned and blocked the shot with his shield, sending it back into her chest. She crumpled. “Anyone else?” He said, annoyed. She couldn’t have waited until he finished talking to try and kill him?

The last two Gerudo looked at each other, and charged.

They seemed to have learned that just shooting at him wasn’t going to work. They tried to get in close, one of them grabbing at his shield arm, wrenching it down and leaving his body exposed. Link jerked, trying to wrench free, but the other Gerudo was already firing her gauntlet, and at this range it was impossible for her to miss.

A gauntlet shot was usually not fatal, at least not immediately. Unless it was a direct hit to the torso, neck, or head, it would just hurt a _lot_ and put the affected body part out of commission for a little while. Maybe it was because she wasn’t a very good shot, or maybe it was because Link had been twisting around so much, but Link was only hit in the leg. Link screamed and collapsed, falling out of the grip of the Gerudo that held him. She aimed her own gauntlet at him, but he threw up his shield at the last second, managing to block the shot despite his awkward position on the ground.

He had to get up and get clear of them. Could he use his leg at all, or did it just really hurt? He tried to move it, screaming again as he pushed past the pain, but everything from his knee down was dead. He could still move his arms, though, and he managed to slash at one of the Gerudo when they got too close, scoring a hit on her leg.

How long did it take for the paralyzation to wear off? Again he only had movies to go by, but he thought it would be nearly a minute. Not good. He had a potion in his bag, but no time to fumble around for it while the fight was still going on.

The Gerudo shot at him again, and while he managed to stop both of them, his shaking arm did a terrible job at deflecting. The blasts went wide, one of them crashing into a nearby building and the other hitting the ground. But as he moved, he felt a tingling in his leg that was almost worse than the pain from getting shot. The magic was wearing off already.

He gathered his strength and tried to get to his feet, tears of pain streaming down his cheeks. He could move his knee a little, but his ankle and toes were still paralyzed, and he just fell to the floor again. The Gerudo tried to take this opportunity to shoot at him, but he’d been expecting it and rolled quickly out of the way.

Link tried to get up again and found that the magic had worn off completely. He stayed on his feet, swaying a little but not falling. He staggered forward and blocked another shot, pressing the two Gerudo backwards. He managed to get a couple hits in before they could get out of range and start circling around him. With two shots coming in from either side, he could only deflect one of them and then just barely duck the other. He gave his still-tingling leg a rapid shake and rushed towards the Gerudo closest to him. He struck at her as hard as he could, then again as she fell backwards, and she stayed down.

The roar of a gauntlet registered in his head just in time for him to drop to the ground. He scrambled to his feet, trying to ignore the pain in in his leg, and ran at his attacker. She shot at him again, but he held up his shield to block it, not even breaking pace.

And then he crashed into her, knocking her to the ground. She grunted and rolled onto her back, then lay still. Link stood over her, waiting for her to try something--he was pretty sure this was the Gerudo who had shot at him while he was talking--but she seemed to have no fight left in her.

“Where’s-” he gasped--“Where’s Iduri? Where’s the spell?”

Hatred flashed across her face. “Iduri’s gone,” she spat. “She was working on the spell, but left to go--to do something else. It doesn’t matter that we couldn’t kill you here. You’ll die trying to get to the spell, it’s hidden--it’s guarded--”

“Yeah, like the other two were,” said Link drily. “Where did Iduri go? What else did she have to do?”

“I don’t know! I swear I don’t know. It was secret. Can I get up? I’m done fighting. I’ll take off the gauntlet.” She held out her arm, and Link nodded, though he kept his shield ready as she slipped off the heavy black glove. She stood, leaving the gauntlet on the floor as she backed away a couple steps. “They said you were just a kid,” she accused him. “We thought you’d give us trouble, after everything you’ve done, but they said it’d be fine because you’d never touched a sword until a few days ago.”

Link shrugged. “When people try to kill you multiple times a day, you get a lot of practice in. And who’s ‘they?’”

The Gerudo looked amused. “Iduri said you’d figured it out, so why are you asking?”

Link felt his heart pounding. “The royalists. You’re royalists. You _are_ working with Iduri.”

She began backing away again, towards one of the buildings. Link didn’t really see a point in stopping her when there were more important things he needed to worry about. “Nothing you haven’t already guessed,” she said.

Link suddenly thought to ask-- “Was Dorra involved with this? Did she set this up?”

“ _Dorra?_ ” said the girl, looking so genuinely confused that Link could only believe her.

“And is Azaren the reincarnation of Ganon?”

She glared at him again. “Do you hear how _crazy_ you sound?”

_All of this sounds crazy,_ Link thought. “That isn’t a yes or a no.”

“Look, King Azaren isn’t _evil,_ okay? He’s only doing what he thinks is right for the Gerudo. Sorry if that doesn’t line up exactly with what’s best for Hyrule.”

“You talk about him like he’s king already,” said Link.

She gave him a little half-smile. “He _is_ king.” And before Link could move, she reached into her pocket, grabbed something, and threw it on the ground. Light flashed, and when it faded she was gone, and so were the bodies of her fallen allies.

Aerra flew over to where she’d stood. “Where’d she go?”

“Iduri must have taught them a couple tricks,” said Link. “But at least now we know she’s working with the royalists. _Finally._ We have to go tell Princess Zelda and the king right now.”

Aerra frowned. “But what about the spell? And how are you gonna get out of here?”

Link looked around, and his heart sank as he saw the fronts of the buildings were completely windowless and smooth, meaning he wouldn’t be able to get out the same way he’d gotten in. “I guess we’ll have to try and find our way through the buildings. And there should be a screen in there somewhere, we can message Zelda if we find one.”

“Sounds like a plan,” said Aerra. “Which building should we try first?”

Link guzzled his potion, reluctant to do so before he’d even started looking for the spell but knowing he wouldn’t be able to fight very well with his injured leg, and then tried all the doors. He found that only one building was unlocked--the one the royalists had come from. “The spell has to be in here,” he said, pushing the door open.

Inside was a long corridor, tiled in stone and dimly lit with bluish-white lights. Link walked through it, keeping a grip on his sword, but it was empty except for a door on the far end. He walked through and was outside again, in a massive complex. It was all plain blocky buildings and construction equipment and pavement and water. Like most places in Zora Grotto, there were canals and pools everywhere so the Zora could get around more easily. Link could see monsters swimming in the water and crawling around on the ground.

“Of course,” he sighed. “Why is it never easy?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So as of this chapter, we've reached the 100-page mark in this thing's Google doc! And I think we're only about a third done with the story. Whew. (We've only just started the third dungeon and I have at least six planned altogether, not including middle and final dungeons.)
> 
> Thanks for reading, looking forward to the whole journey ahead!


	16. Spiked Serpent: Marora

Link flew backwards, landing shoulder-first and skidding across the floor. The giant armored skeleton lumbered towards him, raising a massive jagged sword. Link rolled out of the way as it slammed its blade down, jumped to his feet, and shifted into a fighting stance.

The monster--Aerra said it was called a Stalmaster--stomped forward and swung at him, and Link dodged out of the way. It was easy to tell where and when it would strike, since its heavy sword and armor made it impossible for the thing to move quickly, but Link knew it would _hurt_ if it got him. He dodged another swipe, and then darted in and slashed at the thing’s chest. It was a shame the armor prevented him from just taking the thing apart with his whip like he’d done to the Stalchildren in the Sandstone Canyon, but there wasn’t much he could do about it.

He blocked the Stalmaster’s next attack with his shield, then stabbed at it and jumped away quickly as it swiped at him. He was exhausted--he’d already been exploring this dungeon for hours, on top of everything else that had happened today--but he felt on top of this battle. It was crazy how he could feel the difference the lessons had made, back in Castle Town. He was surer on his feet, he could better predict his opponents’ attacks...he would really have to thank Mera when he returned.

It took only a few more moments before the skeleton monster howled and fell, then dissolved into dust. Link bent over for a few seconds, catching his breath while a chest materialized behind him.

“That was great, Link! Are you alright?” Aerra flew in front of his face and gave him a worried look.

“Yeah,” he said. “I’m fine. Just tired.” He felt shivery, but he didn’t know if it was from exhaustion or cold. His clothes were soaked through from all the swimming around he’d been doing.

She wrung her hands. “We should have waited until tomorrow to come here. I had no idea we’d be dragged into all of this.”

“No, you were absolutely right.” Link gave her a reassuring smile. “This couldn’t wait.”

“Well, if you’re sure,” she said doubtfully. “So...we should see what’s in that chest, right?”

He had an idea of what he would find. Throughout the Industrial Park he had found weak-looking walls and and switches that seemed to need more force to be pressed than his body could provide. So...something heavy? A wrecking ball?

He swung the chest open and rummaged inside, pulling out a thick canvas bag, about the size of both his hands held together. He unzipped it, and found something out of an action film--several small black discs covered in wires and blinking lights.

“What are they?” Aerra asked, flying in close. 

Link moved the bag away. “Hey, careful. They’re sticky bombs. You throw them at a wall or something, they latch on, and a few seconds later they explode.”

“Oh, wow,” said Aerra. “That’ll help us get past those walls we saw before!”

He closed the bag back up and clipped it to his belt. “Sure hope so.”

The only way out of the room was the way they’d come, so they turned back and Link pushed the thick metal door open again. There was a crack in the wall a couple rooms back, where before he’d had to solve a block puzzle. Link made his way back there, fighting off monsters as he did.

Once in the room, he cleared out all the monsters and took out a bomb, turning it over carefully in his hand. He took a deep breath, held down the little button on the side until the lights started to flash, and then threw it as hard as he could at the wall. It landed flat on the spiderwebbing crack and stuck.

Link scrambled back and crouched as the lights began to blink faster. There was a loud blast that rang in his ears and covered him in dust, and when everything cleared he saw a hole in the wall, just wide enough for a person to pass through.

“I feel like maybe I shouldn’t be vandalizing the place,” said Link as he zipped up the bomb bad and drew his sword again. It did seem like no one used this place very much--the floors were covered in a thin layer of dust and every magiscreen he’d found was deactivated--but, well, still.

“There’s nowhere else to go, we checked the map,” Aerra pointed out. “And we really need to find that spell to save Hyrule.”

Link nodded, but he still felt bad.

The next room was empty, except for a barred door on the opposite wall and a red rupee on the floor. Link grinned and started towards the rupee, and then froze. 

“That’s gotta be too good to be true, right?”

Aerra shrugged. “I guess? There’s nothing else to do in here, so we’ve gotta check it out anyway.”

Link edged forward and poked at it with his sword. Nothing happened, so he leaned closer and--

A giant blue...tube thing? burst out of the ground and lunged for him. Link yelped and jumped back, but it had already latched onto his head and torso, swallowing him into its slimy dark middle. Link yelled and struggled until it spat him out, sending him sprawling across the floor. He scrambled to his feet and moved away, drawing his sword and raising his--hang on. Something was missing.

“That thing ate my shield! It ate _me!_ ” he yelled, out of surprise more than anything.

“It’s a Like Like! They, uh, eat things. But you’ve already noticed that.”

Well, if they were hungry…

Link fumbled for his bomb bag, pulled one out, pressed the button, and lobbed it high and slow at the Like Like. It landed straight in the top of its tube-shaped body, and the monster gulped it down.

Seconds later the thing exploded spectacularly, sending globs of slime all over the room, and his shield went spinning across the floor. Link exhaled in relief, picking it up and wiping it off. He couldn’t imagine having to tell the king that he’d lost his new shield already.

The monster had left behind a red rupee. Link pocketed it and went through the now-unbarred door.

The second half of the dungeon was torture. It had to be close to midnight, and his feet were close to dropping off from exhaustion. There were moments where he got caught up in everything and forgot how tired he was, but for the most part it was almost more than he could do to stay on his feet and thinking straight.

After a neat puzzle where he had to: 1) move around mirrors, 2) make a trick shot with a bomb into a pressure switch on the other end of the room to make a grate rise, and then 3) do some crazy platforming with his whip in order to get to the other side of the grate before time ran out and it fell again, he knew he was just done. He sank to the floor and gasped for breath, clutching his exhaustion-pained head.

“You okay?” Aerra put a tiny comforting hand on his shoulder.

“Yeah. Just...tired. Aren’t you?”

She nodded. “Yeah, but I’ve just been sitting in your pocket all day. And this is exciting, so…”

Link smiled. “Yeah, exciting is one way to put it.”

“I think I fell asleep at a couple points, but then you’d get in a fight with some monsters or something and I’d wake up.” She yawned.

“I kind of want to take a nap real quick,” said Link. “Is that weird? I can’t...I just really need to rest.”

“You should definitely rest if you think you need to,” said Aerra in a motherly tone, something that sounded very strange coming from a child the size of his hand. “If you try to fight but you’re too tired, you’re gonna get hurt.”

Link unbuckled his sword and shield, laying them down next to him. “Do you think I can just sleep here?”

“I think so,” Aerra said. “I don’t think any monsters can get up to this platform, and the only ways off are to use the whip or to open that door--” she gestured to the locked door ahead of them--“and you haven’t used the key yet. So you’ll probably be safe.”

Link took off his backpack and laid it down on the floor as a pillow. “Okay,” he said. “Whichever of us wakes up first should wake the other one up, okay? I don’t want to sleep here too long.”

Aerra yawned. “Link...could you do the thing we do in motels and things? Where you give me your sweatshirt to sleep on?”

“Oh yeah, I’m sorry.” He sat up and dug around in his bag for his sweatshirt, then did his best to pat it into a sort of nest. 

Aerra curled up, pulling one of the folds over her body, and smiled. “Night, Link.”

“Goodnight,” he mumbled, already half asleep.

  


Link woke with absolutely no idea what time it was or how long he’d slept. He could see streetlights filtering in through the windows and thought for a minute that meant it was still night, and then remembered Zora Grotto was underground and they would be using artificial lighting regardless. His clothes were still uncomfortably damp, so he probably hadn’t been asleep that long?

He rolled over, wincing as he realized that sleeping on a stone floor was _not_ very good for your back. Aerra was still sound asleep, nestled in Link’s sweatshirt. He gave her shoulder a gentle poke. “Aerra? Aerra, wake up.”

She blinked a couple times. “What time is it?”

He _really_ needed to get a watch. “I don’t know, I’m sorry. We need to get moving, though.”

“Yeah. Sure.” She stretched and fluttered her wings, rising into the air. “I’m still so tired though.”

“Same,” Link said, rubbing his eyes. His mouth felt fuzzy and gross. “So I guess we couldn’t have slept very long, could we? Ugh, I guess I need to start taking my toothbrush with me wherever I go. Bleh.”

Aerra landed on his shoulder. “It would have been nice to know we would be stuck here overnight.”

“We got that motel room for nothing!” Link suddenly realized. “We never ended up sleeping there! All it did was give us a place to drop off stuff that we ended up needing tonight.”

“Well, there was no way to know that,” said Aerra.

Link nodded as he picked up his backpack and strapped his sword and shield back on. “I know, it’s just a shame. All right, let’s get going...I just need that key.” He reached back and rummaged in his bag until he felt his fingers close around it.

“Get going?” said Aerra, surprised. “Right now? Don’t you want breakfast or something?”

Link considered it for a minute. “I’m not hungry yet. Maybe that means it’s still the middle of the night? Do you want something to eat?”

“No, I’m okay,” said Aerra. “You’re right, we need to get going.”

“Well, let me know if you do,” said Link, and unlocked the door.

  


It didn’t take long to clear out the rest of the dungeon. Link loved the offensive power the bombs gave him, although he still needed to work on his aim. There were these new floating-jellyfish monsters called Bari that were a joke to beat with the bombs, but for faster enemies like water Tektites and Stalchildren Link still needed his sword.

He was really beginning to regret that he wasn’t a very good swimmer. When your best friend was a Zora you ended up at public pools a lot, but Link had never tried very hard to become good at it. He could dog paddle like a pro, and that was about it.

There was one puzzle where he had to swim around a giant room that was basically all water, using bombs and pressure switches to redirect the water flow, and by the time he made it to the far end he felt like he was about to collapse.

There was an ornate chest on this side of the room that held a big key. Link checked the map and saw that all he had left to do was beat whatever giant monster Iduri had to throw at him, so...definitely time to take a rest.

He shared his bagel with Aerra while they sat on the cold stone floor of that room, and finished the last of the water bottle. The food did a lot to get his energy back, and he soon felt like fighting a giant monster maybe _wouldn’t_ kill him.

Link stood and unstuck his wet clothing from his skin. The big door was only a couple rooms away, and making his way through rooms he’d already cleared out was a cinch.

Behind the door was a tiny room with a hole in the middle and pots lining the walls. Link broke the pots, and to his relief found a fairy in one of them. He hadn’t been looking forward to fighting without a health restorative of any kind.

Once the fairy was safely in his bottle, Link adjusted his sword belt, made sure he was full up on bombs, took a deep breath...and jumped.

The hole was like the ones that led to fairy fountains--there was magic inside them that slowed his fall and made him land safely on the ground. He was standing in an enormous circular room, filled almost entirely with water. There was a thin ring of floor by the walls, and that was it. Link took the one step forward that he had room to take, looking all around him. Iduri knew he was coming, and she knew how he fought--what would she have in store for him this time, as the last thing guarding her last spell?

The surface of the lake began to ripple. Link leaned forward, and saw a dark shape rising towards him. It uncurled into something long and thin, and water bubbled and frothed as an enormous head broke into the open air.

Link backed away as it hissed at him, black eyes fierce and narrowed and forked tongue flickering. Water streamed off its dark blue scales.

“It’s an ancient serpent that’s been said to live in Hyrule’s underground rivers and lakes!” Aerra said. “It’s called Marora. Its weakness is on its head, see?”

Link was barely listening--the monster was lunging and snapping at him, nearly faster than he could dodge--but he thought he could see a glowing spot between its eyes. He tried stabbing at it the next time the monster came close, but it was too strong and fast. He couldn’t get the blow in, and it headbutted him so hard he flew into the wall.

He got up slowly, forcing air into his lungs. Marora was already preparing for its next attack, and he ran to the side as fast as he could. Its jaws snapped on empty air. Link kept circling around the room, watching his enemy for an opening, or just anything that would help him understand what on earth he was supposed to do.

The only time he could really stand still was the couple of seconds before it went for him, when it would sort of rear back and hiss. He tried pulling out his slingshot and going for the glowing spot then, but it didn’t seem to do anything to Marora and resulted in him being too slow to dodge its attacks.

No, wait. He needed to use the tool he’d found here, like how he’d needed the torch for Feren and the whip for Lupyra. He put away the slingshot, which was _not_ easy to do while he was running for his life, and got out a bomb. Okay, just wait for the right moment, press the button, and _throw_ \--

He scored a clean hit on its forehead, but the bomb just bounced off it into the water. Link had to quickly dive to the side to avoid its attack. “What was that all about?” he yelled from the floor.

“I guess its scales are too slippery for the bombs to stick!” Aerra said into his ear. “You’re going to have to think of something else!”

Link got to his feet and sucked in a deep breath. All right. It had to be the bombs. But he couldn’t use them on the boss, so what was he supposed to do? Stick them on the ceiling and make the roof fall on it? He would never be able to reach, the walls were way too tall. Throw them near Marora and hurt it with the blast? But the bombs didn’t work underwater, and the explosion would never reach it from solid land. Just keep running in circles until it killed him?

Looks like it.

After a couple rounds around the room, he threw another bomb at it out of sheer desperation. It did absolutely nothing except waste a precious bomb. There were pots in the room against the wall and Link assumed they held refills, but once those were gone he would be done for.

He had to _think_. How could he damage this thing? Maybe...time the explosion so it went off right when it lunged for him? Link got out a bomb and waited until he saw Marora rear back and hiss again, and threw it to the floor and dove to the side.

No good. The timer on the thing was too long. Marora was back in the middle of the room by the time it went off. He would have to try and guess when it was about to strike in order to get the timing right.

His next attempt was no better, the bomb going off far too early, while Marora was in the middle of--

In the middle of hissing right before it struck. Like it did every time.

“I am an _idiot,_ ” Link yelled, but he was grinning.

“What?”

He got out another bomb. “I hope that thing is hungry!”

“What?” Aerra asked again, but the thing was already preparing to strike again. Link pressed the button and threw as hard as he could.

It landed straight in the thing’s open mouth, and it stopped and blinked in surprise. Link held his breath, frozen in place, waiting…

There was the muffled sound of an explosion, Marora’s head jerked backwards, and it toppled.

Link drew his sword and ran around the room to strike at the now-exposed glowing spot. He got in three or four hits before Marora came to and dove underwater. Link wondered for a split second if it’d had enough, but he had a feeling it wasn’t over yet.

He was right--a massive spiked tail broke the surface of the water and lashed out, making a wide sweep of the room. Link ran from it as fast as he could, managing to stay just ahead. It was too big for him to jump over or duck under, and far too heavy and fast-moving for him to try and get any damage in.

Eventually the tail snaked back into the water and Marora’s head rose once again. It was more of the same occasional strikes at him, but more frequent and harder to dodge. Link got knocked around a couple of times and missed a bunch of throws before he managed to actually land a bomb in its mouth again.

He was already down to two bombs. So this was going great.

When Marora went underwater, Link hurried to the wall and smashed one of the pots. Five bombs were inside, and he put them in his bag as quickly as he could, then turned around-- _just_ too late to avoid Marora’s tail smashing him into the ground. Link struggled to his feet, clutching his side with his shield hand. He was bleeding, but it wasn’t so bad. He could manage.

He fumbled for a bomb and held it ready in his hand, waiting. Marora opened its mouth and he threw, the bomb going wide and landing in the water. Link cursed under his breath and just barely dodged the monster’s strike. Running was harder now. He could feel every motion pulling at the wound in his side. Maybe he’d broken a rib. What did broken ribs even feel like?

The monster prepared to attack once again, and Link made himself take a deep breath. He couldn’t be rushed or frantic. He needed to take time to aim.

He took a deep breath, reached back...and missed again. This time the monster’s attack got him, slamming his body backwards into the wall. Link struggled to rise, barely making it to his feet in time to avoid Marora’s next strike. He was hurt pretty bad, but he could still fight. There was no point in using his fairy unless he had to.

Okay, he just had to...not miss again. Not get hit again. He needed to wait for the right moment and hope that he would somehow have a better arm this time…

Marora rose up and hissed, and Link took a deep breath and threw. The bomb left his hand and arced across the room, landing straight in the monster’s mouth.

Link nearly cheered as he ran to Marora’s head and struck it again and and again and again--

The monster screamed and jerked backwards, writhing around in the water. Link backed away and covered his body with his shield to keep from getting splashed. Marora screamed louder still, making Link’s ears ring--

And burst.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It just isn't a Zelda game without a boss you defeat by feeding them bombs.
> 
> And I kinda rushed through this dungeon because a) if I'm bored writing it, you'll probably be bored reading it, and b) I am dying to get to all that midgame drama goodness. Hope that worked out for everyone. I don't intend for any future dungeon sequences will be any more abridged than this.
> 
> Thanks for reading!


	17. The Zora President

Link uncovered his eyes and straightened up. Marora was gone, leaving only a heart piece and a softly shining portal. “That wasn’t so bad,” he grinned.

Aerra flew down to his chest, worriedly inspecting the steadily-growing bloodstains. “Link, that thing basically tore you apart.”

“But it didn’t!” He moved forward and touched the heart; his wounds immediately healed. “And I’m fine now, see?”

“Okay,” said Aerra doubtfully. “Let’s go break the spell now, please? There’s nothing left in here. And we need to hurry.”

Link nodded and sheathed his sword. “Yeah, we should get out of here.”

He understood Aerra’s restlessness. He really wanted to tell Zelda about the royalists already, and he was worried about the fact that Iduri had apparently left Zora Grotto to do something secret. He’d really been counting on running into her again and getting more information out of her.

The portal brought them to what Link supposed was an abandoned storeroom, with shelves and cleaning supplies and cardboard everywhere. The place was lit by magic threads, casting the place in the same cool blue light as the previous two spell rooms.

There was a large basin in the middle of the room, and Link stepped closer. He could hear faint voices calling out to him as he leaned over the container, and saw the glowing glass balls that held essences. There were definitely fewer of them than there had been in the other spells, which fit with the fact that the attacks here had been on a much smaller scale.

And there was that question again: was Iduri pulling back because she was scared? Or because she was preparing for something big?

Link sighed and shook his head. No point in worrying about that now.

He broke the spell quickly and went out the room’s only door, finding himself in a completely different part of the Industrial Park, only a couple feet away from the front gate. Link turned around in confusion, thinking that was a really obvious place to hide a spell, and saw that the door had no outside handle, and was just a smooth plane that fit in perfectly with the wall. He guessed Iduri had gotten in using teleportation, the same way he had.

The Park was totally deserted, even though things like a lack of dust and an operational magiscreen on the wall told him that this area was still in regular use. He checked the screen for the time and saw that it was only six in the morning--still too early for anyone to be coming into work. That meant he’d only gotten three or four hours of sleep the previous night. Ugh.

He sent a quick message to Zelda, explaining in a couple sentences what had happened and promising to give more detail when he could, and made his weary way out of the park. It was a good thing he’d gotten that motel room after all. The first thing he was doing when he got back there was going back to sleep.

 

Link woke up at noon to the sound of a magiscreen’s alarm. He rolled over, still half-unaware of what was happening, and put one of his pillows over his head.

Something tugged his blanket off him. He groaned and sat up, covered himself again, and flopped back down.

“Link!” Aerra flew in close and swatted him on the nose. “Come on, it’s time to get up!”

He pulled the blanket over his head.

“Link! You’re the one who set the alarm in the first place!”

He sighed and pulled the blanket down. “I’m still exhausted,” he mumbled.

Aerra crossed her arms. “Well, I’m _bored._ ”

“Okay,” he mumbled. “I gotta brush my teeth and shower before we do anything fun, though.” He rolled out of bed and pulled off his torn and dirty shirt. He’d been so tired last night he’d just fallen straight into bed without a second thought. It was lucky he’d remembered to take his sneakers off.

“Can we go exploring a little in town please?” Aerra begged. “I know we went all over asking people for information yesterday but we never stopped and did anything.”

Link held back a sigh. He’d been hoping to take the afternoon easy. “Yeah, for a little bit--remember we have that meeting with the Chief of Police at five? We can go get lunch. We haven’t eaten since we were still in the Park.” He went into the tiny bathroom and pulled out his toothbrush.

“I took some cereal from your bag while you were sleeping,” said Aerra. “I’m not so hungry but I’ll eat if we go out somewhere.”

Link pushed the toothbrush to the side of his mouth before saying, “I’m pretty hungry myself so I think we’ll eat.” He finished brushing, spat into the sink, and turned on the shower.

After he was clean he checked his messages, and found one from Zelda with, well, a lot of capital letters and exclamation points. “I feel kind of bad leaving her hanging like that,” he said aloud. “But I was way too tired to send anything longer, and she really needed to know…”

“What did she say?” Aerra asked.

Link scanned the message again. “Well, she told King Ersten that the royalists attacked us, and he’s now in contact with Gerudo Valley authorities...there’s going to be a whole political mess, now that the royalists are an international issue. Zelda hopes it’ll lead to Gerudo Valley working with us to stop Azaren. They’re planning to put out a warrant for his arrest...they sent me a bunch of pictures of known royalists so I can try and ID the ones that attacked me...this is moving really fast all of a sudden. Wow.”

“But that’s a good thing! Azaren will be arrested and they’ll make him tell what he did with my family.”

Link felt a huge rush of guilt. He’d nearly forgotten about Aerra’s family. He’d been focusing so much on the spells lately. “I really hope so,” he said, hoping Aerra wouldn’t notice the look on his face. “But the royalists know that we know they’re involved, so I don’t think it’ll be as easy as marching in and arresting him.”

“Oh,” said Aerra, downcast.

Link smiled reassuringly. “Hey, it’ll be fine. King Ersten and Princess Zelda know what they’re doing.”

Aerra smiled back. “Okay.”

Link tapped the screen. “Let me just answer this quick, and then we’ll go to lunch, alright? It’ll be fine, Aerra. This is the place we’ve been trying to get to this whole time. We’re closer to stopping all of this than we’ve ever been.”

 

He surprised himself by having a good time. He was still exhausted and sore all over, but eating made him feel a lot better. Zora Grotto seemed a much happier and friendlier place now--Link heard several people celebrating the sudden recovery of the victims. A couple people saw his sword and shield, asked him if he’d been the one to wake everyone up, and thanked him. Link found the attention embarrassing. He _had_ broken the three spells, but he still felt like this was something anyone could have done.

After lunch he and Aerra wandered the city. There was a store selling potions, but his one bottle was full. There was a gym that was holding an obstacle course race, but only the easiest course was open, so Link played that and won a wallet with twice the rupee capacity. There was a Zora man who wanted a special flower only found in Gerudo Valley for his girlfriend, but Link couldn’t help him much there.

He had brought his guitar along, so they went back up to the top level of the Grotto and found that Sheikah symbol. This one gave him more rupees. Link was more than happy to start filling up his new wallet. He could nearly afford that bottle in Kakariko now.

Finally it was getting close to five, and they headed downtown to City Hall, a massive building that was all stone and blue-green stained glass. The receptionist told Link to have a seat while he waited, so he went over to the dry-land side of the lobby, sank down on a couch, and flipped through a months-old sports magazine. He couldn’t help but get distracted by the massive pool across the room, where a couple Zora sat on a low shelf under the water, submerged up to their waists. He loved how Zora Grotto was built--it was possible to live a completely normal life here without ever stepping foot out of the water for more than a minute or two.

“What’s the point of having this meeting?” Aerra whispered. “We already broke the spell, we don’t need any more information. Shouldn’t we get back to Castle Town?”

Link sighed. “You have a point. But we don’t know what useful things they might tell us. There’s still so much we don’t know. I think it’d be best to honor the appointment. We don’t need to be back home for anything, and it’s kind of too late now, anyway.”

“It’s just like you said. Everything’s happening so quickly now. You said the Gerudo police have started their arrests already, right?”

“At least that’s what Princess Zelda’s last message said.” Link had checked his messages right before coming to City Hall. Gerudo authorities were apparently taking all of this as their long-sought excuse to crack down on the royalists, though they could only arrest Azaren and the Gerudo that Link had identified. “They’ve got a couple of the Gerudo that attacked us, but Azaren is nowhere to be found. As expected.”

Aerra nodded. “I hope they find him.”

“Me too.”

There was a pause, and then she said: “I wonder how Dorra’s doing.”

Link smacked his head. “Crap! She asked us to tell her if we found anything. And we definitely did. I completely forgot to message her. We’ll have to do it after this meeting. She probably already knows Azaren was involved anyway, with that warrant out for his arrest.”

“Hello, Link?”

He looked up to see an elderly Zora woman, and jumped to his feet in surprise. “Oh! Um. President Oruta. It’s nice to meet you.”

“Likewise,” she said, inclining her head slightly. “I understand you are responsible for the recovery of those Zora Grotto citizens affected by the attacks?”

Link blushed. “Yes, ma’am.”

“Then I thank you. You have done a great service to my people. And to me as well.”

“To you, ma’am? _Oh._ ” His eyes widened. Could it be?

President Oruta raised her eyebrows--well, the skin above her eyes. Zora didn’t have hair. “Yes?”

Link forced his dry mouth to swallow, hoping he was right. “You weren’t really out of town, ma’am, were you? You got attacked. You were one of the victims.”

She crossed her arms, one side of her mouth twitching. “Well, I certainly hope that few Zora Grotto citizens are as perceptive as you are.”

“I don’t think anyone thought something out of the ordinary was happening,” said Link reassuringly. He’d spent hours yesterday interrogating Zora, and none of them had said anything about Oruta’s absence. “Um, ma’am, wasn’t I supposed to be meeting with the Chief of Police?”

“Yes,” said Oruta. “But I thought I’d come speak with you myself. I have all of the Police Department’s information on the attacks, and I wanted to thank you for all that you’ve done.”

“You’re welcome,” Link mumbled, self-conscious. He took the president’s outstretched hand, and she shook.

“Let’s head up to my office,” she said. “We can talk there.”

Ten minutes later found him in an incredibly soft chair opposite President Oruta’s dark wooden desk. She was much more organized than King Ersten, with nothing on her desk except a tidy in-tray and out-tray.

On the other side of the room was a shallow pool just next to a stone counter, with cabinets and drawers all around the sides. Link couldn’t stop staring at it, wondering what it was, until he realized it was a desk. A water desk. President Oruta had a water desk.

“So, Link,” said Oruta, “I understand that you wanted information about the attacks in order to locate the spell. Since you have found it on your own, I am not sure how helpful I can be to you today. To be honest, I can probably get more useful information from you than you can from me.”

Link hadn’t expected much else. “Well, I’ll be happy to help in any way I can, ma’am.”

Oruta smiled briefly. “Thank you, Link. I suppose I’ll get right to it. The strange woman--Iduri, I believe her name is?--incapacitated me after suddenly appearing in my office. Which is quite impossible.”

“Oh,” said Link, glad he knew the answer to this one. “She can teleport. I confronted her a couple days ago and she disappeared on me.”

The Zora president nodded slowly. “I have a standard anti-magic field over my office. Standard issue. It should keep anyone from getting in here by magic, but someone broke through it somehow. Even the best spells are not infallible. It’s alarming that it happened, but it was certainly possible, if unlikely. If my security agents could have more information about this woman’s magic…”

“I’ll mention it to his Majesty, ma’am, but I don’t think that we really know much yet,” said Link apologetically. It seemed like they’d been fighting Iduri’s attacks for _decades,_ but they still understood so little.

“Speaking of King Ersten, there’s something else I’ve been thinking about,” said Oruta. “He sent Elder Goramin and me detailed messages telling us everything that went on in Castle Town. He claimed that this woman was stealing people’s essences in order to fuel an enormous spell, meant to allow them to break into government offices.”

“Yes, ma’am,” said Link. “The security spells on Hyrule Castle and Elder Goramin’s office had been messed with. You said that the spells on your office had been weakened? That’s how she got in there.”

Oruta frowned. “No.”

“Sorry, what? Ma’am,” he added quickly.

She leaned forward in her chair. “Think about it. This woman weakened the spells on my office in order to get in here...so she could get in here to use my essence to weaken the spell on my office?”

Link stared at her for a moment. “...Oh,” he finally said. “But--”

Oruta nodded. “Yes, I know. Quite the conundrum.”

“I...well, I don’t know if King Ersten told you, but Iduri has also been collecting fairy essences for some unknown purpose. Maybe that’s what she wanted you for.”

“Ersten did mention that, but I’m certainly not a fairy.” Oruta’s mouth twitched with amusement.

He bit his lip. “I know, but...maybe because you’re a world leader, they need your essence for something else?”

Oruta gave a quiet huff of laughter. “I’m not like your king, Link. I’m not leading the Zora because there’s anything special in my soul. I was elected.”

Link sighed. “We just keep talking in circles. We have so many questions and we think we can answer them by just talking about them over and over. But so far that hasn’t gotten us anywhere.”

“I suppose you’re right,” said Oruta. “The only people who can really tell us what’s going on are Azaren and Iduri.” She pushed her chair out and stood. “Then I suppose we ought to go our separate ways now. You look like you’re about to collapse, Link, if you’ll pardon my saying so.”

Link stood as well, his sore muscles screaming as if to emphasize Oruta’s words. “I could definitely use a rest, ma’am.”

“Thank you for your help, Link. You do Hyrule credit.”

Link felt himself blushing. “Thank you, ma’am, but I don’t think I told you anything very helpful.”

Oruta smiled. “You broke the spell keeping the people of Zora Grotto asleep, did you not? That was most certainly helpful. I mean it, Link, I am extremely grateful for everything you have done--for the way you helped us without being asked, and without hope of thanks or a reward.”

Link’s face grew hotter. “You’re very welcome, ma’am, but it wasn’t like I was going to just leave all those people like that.”

“Hyrule has not needed a hero for centuries now,” said Oruta. “I never thought I would get to meet one. Now that I have, I must say that the Goddesses knew what they were doing when they picked you. Thank you for all the help you have given to my people. I will repay you in any way I can, if there is anything you might need from an old Zora like me. Now, let me walk you out of here. You deserve a rest, after everything you’ve done.”

 

“She was nice!” said Aerra.

Link nodded, then winced as his sore muscles protested. “You could have come out and said hi.”

They were sitting in the Zora Grotto train station, waiting for the 8:23 to Castle Town. Link was itching to get back home. He needed to talk to Zelda about all the new developments with the royalists as soon as he could. He probably wouldn’t be able to get to the castle before midnight, but there was just no way he was waiting until the next morning.

“I didn’t wanna interrupt.” She shrugged and took a bite of the muffin Link had bought for them both.

They went back to eating silently. Link lasted about two whole minutes before he caved and stood up. “Hang on, I’m just gonna--”

“You’re gonna check the screen _again?_ ”

“I just want to see if Zelda has any updates.” He crossed the room to the magiscreen station.

Aerra sighed. “She didn’t the last six times you checked.”

“I know,” said Link, and signed on to his account anyway.

There! He had a new message. But it was probably just from his school or something, no need to get excited.

He opened the messenger screen.

_From: Zelda_

_Subject: LINK READ THIS RIGHT NOW I MEAN LIKE RIGHT FREAKING NOW_

He turned to Aerra, ignoring his pounding heart. “See? Told you it was worth it to keep checking--”

“Yeah yeah okay, just open it! Come on!”

He tapped the message.

_LINK OH MY GODDESSES._

_SO. Hyrule and Gerudo Valley authorities have been combing the world over looking for Azaren. I think I’ve mentioned that. And they couldn’t find Azaren anywhere. We’ve been really worried that he knew the police finally had an excuse to arrest him, so he went off to implement whatever secret parts of his plan he’s been hiding. We’ve really been on lockdown back at the castle. But nothing happened, and guess what?_

_The Gerudo police found him an hour ago in a bar that has connections to royalist members. They surrounded the place and he finally gave himself up._

_Azaren was arrested about five minutes ago. I wrote you as soon as I could. They’ll be questioning him within the hour._

_It’s over._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> SPOILER ALERT: It's not over.
> 
> Oh MAN it feels good to update this again! School this semester has been really tough and I've needed to focus on studying instead of writing, which freaking sucks. I really wish I could be updating this more frequently, but them's the breaks. If anyone's still reading this, thanks so much for still sticking around!


	18. Back To The Old Grind

_The room in the video was small, plain, and brightly lit. A tall Gerudo sat at the only table, staring straight ahead. His expression was stony, his wrists cuffed and resting on the table, his hands curled lightly into fists. The scene was in black and white, but Link had seen this man in pictographs before, and on the news. He knew the man’s long, thick hair was red and his eyes were gold._

_The metal door creaked open, and a woman in the uniform of the Hyrulean police walked in. She stood in front of the table, frowning at the Gerudo. He continued staring at the wall. He did not move._

_She slammed her palms onto the table, bringing her head close to the Gerudo. If she had hoped for a reaction, she would have been disappointed._

  _“Well,” she said, scowling. “Azaren.”_

_The Gerudo looked up, expressionless as ever. “You took your time getting here,” he said slowly. His voice was quiet, sharp, and steely. “I don’t like waiting.”_

 

Link was back at school the day after Azaren’s arrest. It was...well, there was a lot to get accustomed to.

He’d been ready to field the questions from his classmates. He’d been ready to make up the work for the he’d missed (only two days in the end, since his adventure had carried into the weekend, so not too bad). What he _hadn’t_ been ready for was how unfamiliar everything was now. It felt _wrong_ not to carry his sword, and to sit at a desk for hours.

Doman and Ania stuck by him the entire day, shielding him from the worst of the mob. Link was suddenly the most popular kid in school. The name of the mysterious hero who had woken up all the victims had never officially been released, but everyone knew Link had been involved with the attacks somehow. Link continued dodging their questions, pretending he had no idea what they were talking about. He knew he wasn’t convincing anyone, but he wanted to avoid the subject as much as possible. Talking about heroes and the Triforce in the halls of his high school just didn't feel right.

None of his teachers said anything about the affair beyond telling students to leave Link alone when things got too crazy, but he caught them staring at him during lessons and to and from classes. He tried his best to ignore everyone and to have as typical a day as he could. He knew soon everyone would forget about it. Azaren would be tried and convicted, and Hyrule would move past all of this. Soon his life would return completely to normal.

And he felt...weirdly sad about it. Being the hero had been...well, he wasn’t quite sure what to call it. Parts of it had been good, but parts of it had been terrifying and frustrating. He hadn’t _liked_ fighting off monsters or sleeping on lumpy motel beds, but he’d been _good_ at it. It had _fit_ him.

At least Zelda had invited him to dinner at the castle later this week. That was something to look forward to.

 

_The policewoman straightened up a little, leaving some space between her and Azaren. Link couldn’t quite read her expression. Irritated, maybe, or resigned. “Well, it isn’t like you’ve got anywhere to go.”_

_“Regardless,” said Azaren. “One does not keep a king waiting.”_

_The policewoman’s eyebrows narrowed for a brief moment, then she seemed to remember who was on what side of the interrogation. “Azaren, we’ve spoken to all of the women who were arrested this morning in association with the attacks on Zora Grotto. They’ve admitted they are members of the royalists and that the attacks were royalist-sanctioned. It seems to me that we can get this interview over with quickly if you could just corroborate everything I’ve just said.”_

_Azaren shifted his arms. The quiet clink of his handcuffs somehow seemed to fill the room. “I would appreciate it if you called me by my title.”_

_“Fat chance.” The policewoman smirked._

_There was an expectant silence for several seconds, and then Azaren sighed. “It is possible that those women acted on their own, using the cause of the royalists as an excuse for their actions. But I knew nothing of it.”_

_Link leaned closer to the screen, watching Azaren’s face for some sign of untruth, and found none._

 

“Did any of you get the answer yet?” asked Ania, leaning over to look at Link’s paper.

“I’m the wrong person to ask. You know, I’ve been _kind_ of preoccupied lately.”

Ania poked his arm. “Alright, we get it, Mister Hero.”

“I got 72,” said Doman, turning his notebook upside down so Ania could see his work.

Ania frowned at it for a moment, and then grabbed her own notebook. “Okay good, you used the Symmetry Theorem too. And your answers for parts A and B match mine...but how did you get C?”

Doman pointed. “I treated the hexagon in the spell pattern like it was two trapezoids. Then it’s just like the problem we did in class a couple days ago.”

“Oh,” Link grumbled. “That’s fantastic for me, then.”

Doman clapped a heavy stone hand on his shoulder. “You’ll catch up soon enough, brother. Ania and I can show you our notes.”

“Thanks. It’s just been really hard to concentrate on school lately, you know?”

“I can imagine,” said Ania. “You’ve been living in a completely different world for a while. You were part of the legends.”

Link nodded. “That’s it exactly! Except it’s more like...well, at this time yesterday I was sitting in President Oruta’s office. Princess Zelda and King Ersten were telling me all of these state secrets because they thought I could help. And now I’m just some random high school kid again.”

“You’re still in the loop though, aren’t you?” Doman asked. “It isn’t like Princess Zelda shut you out.”

“Kind of,” said Link. “I’ve been invited to Hyrule Castle for dinner in two days. And Princess Zelda’s been messaging me with updates, but there hasn’t been much. King Ersten won’t let her say anything sensitive over the screens, so her messages have mostly been bad puns and details of how awesome her breakfast was that day. And whether I have any allergies. Like for dinner.”

“I can’t believe you’re having dinner at the castle,” Ania sighed wistfully. “That chef has won _awards,_ man.”

Link grinned. “I’ll see if I can get you a doggy bag.”

“Yeah, do that,” said Ania. “Ask for one. See how everyone reacts.”

Doman cleared his throat. “You guys, this homework is due tomorrow and it isn’t going to do itself.”

Link sighed and picked up his pencil. 

 

The next couple days were interminable. Link didn’t have much patience for school at the best of times, and waiting for the night of his dinner invitation was driving him crazy. But he finally found himself walking up the castle grounds in his nicest clothes, Aerra nestled in his pocket and shoes pinching his feet.

“Zelda said in her last message that she was meeting us outside,” said Link as he scanned the grounds. “Do you see her?”

“Nope,” said Aerra. “Sorry.”

He turned a corner, trying to walk normally. How were you even supposed to walk in a castle? Rushing would look stupid but being too slow wouldn’t work either. Neither was...respectful enough. Not formal enough. How did you walk _formally?_

He bounced up and down on his toes. “Do you think we’re too early? We’re probably too early. She’s gotta still be inside.”

Aerra looked quizzically up at him. “Link...are you okay?”

“What? Yeah. I’m fine. Everything’s cool. Do you see Zelda?”

“What is _up_ with you?”

“Nothing!”

Aerra still looked skeptical, but the conversation was cut short when they rounded another corner and saw Zelda sitting on the edge of an ornate fountain. Link inexplicably felt a jolt in his chest as she looked up, noticed them, and jumped to her feet.

Link bowed. “Your Highness, it’s so good to see you.”

“Hey Link!” She swatted at his shoulder, grinning. “Looking fancy.”

He blushed. He wasn’t really wearing anything special, just a green button-down shirt tucked into slacks. Compared to Zelda, who looked elegant and royal in a shimmery knee-length dress, he felt way underdressed. “Um, thank you. You look really. Really nice.” He’d been about to say _really pretty,_ which was, well...probably out of line to say to a princess.

She smiled. “Thank you! How’ve you been?”

“Um,” said Link. “It’s just been school and homework and stuff. Nothing I haven’t told you about in my messages.” Goddesses, he was so _boring!_

“It’s been so crazy over here,” Zelda said. “We’ve been in tons of meetings with the Gerudo about the royalists and the attacks and everything. And there’s the cleanup effort from all the places that were destroyed by Iduri, and Azaren’s upcoming trial, and magic lessons with Impa, and all of my normal work on top of that…”

“That sucks,” said Link.

Zelda shrugged. “At least it’s been exciting. I mean, there’s been a lot of paperwork, but it’s all _interesting_ paperwork.”

It had never once occurred to Link that one could put “paperwork” and “interesting” together in a sentence. Zelda must get that attitude from her father. “Well I guess that’s all right then?”

“Yeah. I guess,” she laughed. “We should probably get inside. Dinner’s in like fifteen minutes. It’ll just be us and my dad and Impa.”

“Oh, good! It’ll be nice to see Impa again.”

Zelda raised her eyebrows. "Well, it won't be if we keep her waiting any longer. She'll probably have eaten all the food herself. C'mon!" She turned and set off towards the castle.

Link rolled his eyes and followed.

 

_“You gain nothing by lying to us,” said the policewoman. “All you’re going to do is drag out the proceedings and delay the inevitable.”_

_Azaren smiled mirthlessly. “Well, wasting the time of the Hyrulean government is always a worthwhile endeavor.”_

_“What do you have against Hyrule, anyway?” Link winced at her clumsy attempt at sounding casual; Azaren laughed._

_“Open a history book, Officer, and I think you’ll be able to figure it out. Hyrule has so very often stood between Gerudo leaders and that which is best for their country.”_

_The Triforce. He meant the Triforce. Link shivered._

_The policewoman leaned forward to rest her palms on the table once more. “You realize you failed, don’t you? The royalist movement is nothing without you, and there’s plenty of evidence saying you’re involved in criminal activities. You just aren’t going to walk away from this.”_

_Azaren looked calmly up at her. “Aren’t I?”_

No, _Link thought, wishing he could wipe that look off his face._ You aren’t.

But the policewoman was silent.

 

“Your Majesty, I spoke with the Sheikah elders today,” said Impa, gathering roasted potatoes onto her fork. “They will of course defer to your wishes, but they sense that the danger to Hyrule is not yet gone. If it were their decision, they would not have me return home until after the trial next week.”

King Ersten frowned slightly. “You’re welcome here as long as you’d like, Impa, but I’m surprised the Sheikah find it necessary.”

Impa swallowed the bite of food in her mouth before continuing. “To be completely frank, I agree with my elders, your Majesty. My ability to foresee the future is not as strong as the senior members of my tribe, but I feel the same oncoming danger as they do. If it’s really alright for me to stay, I would feel a lot better if I remained here until Azaren has been safely convicted.”

“Have the Sheikah seen anything specific?” Zelda asked. “I know your visions can be vague at times.”

Impa shook her head. “Just a feeling that this isn’t quite over yet. That feeling extends into next week. Something big is going to happen around that time.”

“You think that thing is the trial?” Link leaned in towards the conversation, his meal forgotten.

“It’s got to be,” said Zelda. “The more we talk to Azaren and the royalist members that attacked you in Zora Grotto, the less clear all of this gets. That guilty verdict might not be so easy to get after all.”

Link’s heart sunk. “What? How? The royalists were clearly involved in the attacks! They _said_ so!”

“The Gerudo that attacked you said so,” King Ersten said. “Azaren claims that despite what they say, their actions were not sanctioned by himself or by the royalist movement. He also claimed not to recognize police sketches of Iduri when shown to him. It’s his word against the other arrested Gerudo.”

“So Azaren could go free!” After everything, he could just _walk away._ And then Hyrule would be in danger again.

“He’ll get some time for inciting the royalists to violence,” said the king. “And his arrest means Gerudo authorities have license to search his residence and the royalist headquarters. It’s possible they’ll find incriminating evidence, but Azaren is well known for covering his tracks.”

Zelda scowled. “It’s absolutely ridiculous. _Everyone_ knows he’s wanted to take the Gerudo leadership by force for years. There _has_ to be evidence somewhere.”

“‘Everyone knows’ is not evidence that will hold up in a court of law, Zellie,” the king chided.

“I know that,” Zelda sighed. “I really do. It’s just so _frustrating._ ”

King Ersten took a sip of his drink. “Part of me feels the same way you do. But another part finds our current troubles oddly comforting. Getting bogged down in the legal system feels so...normal.”

“I still prefer problems you can solve by shooting them in the face,” Zelda muttered.

Link tried and failed to hold in a laugh. “You would,” he said, and she grinned back at him.

_“Anyway,” _said the king. “I’ve just remembered--Link, you still have yet to see the recordings of Azaren’s interrogations, right?”__

He blinked hard a couple of times. “What? There are recordings?” 

“I’ll take that as a “no”, then,” said King Ersten, with a wry smile. 

“There wasn’t much of use on them,” Impa said. 

Link nodded. “I’ve gathered.” 

“You should see them anyway,” said Zelda. “They’re...well.” She looked unsettled. “I wouldn’t say there isn’t _anything_ of use. In a lot of ways they’re _very_ enlightening.” 

He felt a sudden chill. “What do you mean by that?” 

“I mean that...I mean that we seem to have far less of a handle of things than certain others do.” she sighed and put down her fork. “You should just see for yourself. Let’s go to your office, Dad.”

 

_“I had no knowledge of or involvement in any criminal activities any royalist members may have committed,” said Azaren coldly. “I think I have made this quite clear.”_

_“Several of the women currently sitting in our cells are under the impression that you were aware of their participation in the magical attacks on Zora Grotto. In fact, they said that the word around the royalists was that you spearheaded all of the attacks on Hyrule.”_

_Azaren raised his eyebrows. “I cannot imagine that you have evidence beyond rumor and hearsay that I told anyone anything of the sort.”_

_Another weighted silence followed. The policewoman watched him for several seconds, scowling. Azaren seemed to be looking at the wall, slightly above her forehead._

_“You’d better hope that excuse holds up in court,” the policewoman finally said. “Personally, I wouldn’t bet on it.”_

_Azaren leaned forward. “I’m not one for gambling. I wouldn’t be making this bet if I wasn’t entirely sure of the outcome.” He smiled ever so slightly. “Trust me.”_

_The policewoman scowled. “I suppose we’ll find out next week,” she said._

_“I suppose we will,” said Azaren._

_The policewoman straightened up. “Until then, Azaren.”_

_He was still smiling. “Until then.”_

_The video cut to black._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> EYYYY GUESS WHO'S BACK!?!?
> 
> Like, I have no excuse here. Life has been kicking my butt lately and I really haven't had the time or mental bandwidth to work on this. But when I said I was never giving up on this story I meant it! I'll always go back and work on it when I can. It might take a while but this fic is getting finished no matter what.
> 
> Thank you all so much for your patience and I'm real sorry for the wait. I'm going to try my best to get back to semi-regular updates.
> 
> (Also, Link, buddy, you've got it bad, haven't you?)


	19. The Trial's Approach

As the days passed and the trial grew closer, Link became more and more uneasy. Azaren still wouldn’t talk, Impa was still having premonitions of impending danger, and he still had absolutely no idea what was going on in most of his classes.

He groaned and rested his head on his open mathematics textbook. “This is awful. Who invented trigonometry in the first place? I’m going to stab them.”

Something poked him in the shoulder; he straightened up just in time to see Zelda jab him again with her pencil, an impish grin on her face. “You need to take a different attitude towards all of this. Try thinking of homework as a distraction from the fact that the fate of the kingdom may be at stake.”

“Wow, thanks,” he snorted. “I feel better now.” She poked him again, this time on the temple. “Ow!”

Zelda set down her pencil and slid her own book away from her. “I think we need a study break. That assignment isn’t due tomorrow, is it?”

Link shook his head. “The day after, your Highness.”

“Excellent,” she said. “I’ve got something cool to show you. Forty-five minutes in the gymnasium, and then back to work?”

He certainly needed no further convincing.

 

This was his third time in a week spending the afternoon at Hyrule Castle. Zelda had begun inviting him over just to hang out whenever her day wasn’t too busy, much to Link’s delight. She was as good a study partner as Doman and Ania--more prone to taking breaks, but much less easily distracted. Link could end up talking with his school friends for hours about weekend plans or books or celebrities while they were supposed to be studying. That didn’t really happen with Zelda. When she focused, she _focused._

Oh, and the castle library was filled with so many incredible sources for his history paper that Link almost felt guilty about the unfair advantage. Not to mention having the king and princess on hand to ask for help.

Link had never thought that hanging out at Hyrule Castle would feel almost normal. While he had been--for lack of a better word-- _questing,_ his meetings with Zelda had consisted mostly of tense conversations about theories and plans. Now they were basically killing time until the court date. Zelda talked about the impending trial so little that Link sometimes wondered if she was avoiding the topic.

He supposed there wouldn’t be much to talk about anyway, even if they wanted to. King Ersten was working extensively with the lawyers who would be representing the people of Hyrule, which made sense considering his law degree, but there wasn’t anything Link or Zelda could do to help. Link was slated to be a witness in regards to the royalist members who had attacked him in Zora Grotto, and the lawyers had met with him a few times to help him prepare his testimony and tell him what to expect in court. Beyond that, this was entirely out of his hands.

He didn’t much like that, but having time to hang out with Zelda wasn’t too bad.

“So I don’t think you’ve ever gone from the library to the gymnasium,” said Zelda as they made their way down one of the castle’s many staircases. “It’s in a different wing, so we’ll have to go through the main hall--hang on, wait.” She stopped short.

Link froze. He could hear raised voices in the distance, towards the entrance of the castle. He gave Zelda a worried look that said _yeah, I hear it too._

“We should check it out,” she whispered.

“What? Are you sure?”

She nodded and gave him a quick thumbs-up before starting to head towards the noise. Link followed, trying to ignore the sudden pinch in his stomach.

As Zelda opened the door to the main hall, Link saw several castle guards arguing with a tall Gerudo woman. Even from across the room, he could see her eyes were narrowed and her hands were shaking.

“Ma’am, this isn’t a _waiting room,_ ” one of the guards was saying. “It may be open to the public, but that doesn’t mean you can loiter here--”

The Gerudo cut him off, taking a furious half-step forward. “I’m not leaving! You can’t keep me from seeing him!”

Link gasped and jabbed Zelda in the arm before he could remember she was a princess. “I know who that is!”

She turned to him. “Sorry, you what?”

“It’s Azaren’s girlfriend,” he said. “Dorra.”

Zelda’s eyes widened, but before she could say anything the rest of the room noticed their arrival. The guards gave Zelda a slight, professional bow without taking their eyes off Dorra. “Good afternoon, Your Highness,” one of them said. “This woman was just about to leave.”

Dorra glared at the guard. “I was doing _no such thing--_ ” she broke off. “Link? Is that you?”

He gave her an awkward half-smile. “Um, yeah. Hi.”

“What are you doing here?”

“That’s probably a question better asked of you,” said Zelda wryly. “Dorra, is it?”

“Yes, it is.” The Gerudo gave Zelda a curt nod, then turned back to Link, her smile overly bright. “These fine people were just telling me I can’t so much as say hello to someone you’ve got in your cells--let alone just see them to, oh I don’t know, confirm that they’re _alive._ ”

Link was so taken aback at her casual treatment of Zelda that it took a few seconds for the rest of her statement to register. “Wait, wait, you mean Azaren?”

“Of course I mean Azaren!”

Zelda’s eyes narrowed, her fingers curling slightly. “Azaren is a high-security prisoner,” she said, chillingly polite. “We cannot let him receive visitors at the moment. But I assure you, he is alive and well.”

“ _Pardon_ me if I don’t take your word for it,” said Dorra in the exact same tone.

The two of them stared at each other for what was most certainly the most awkward few seconds of Link’s life.

“Uh...you’ll see him at the trial though, right?” He finally said.

“That isn’t what I would call a great comfort,” Dorra replied without taking her eyes off Zelda.

The princess gave a polite, shallow curtsey. “Then I cannot be of much assistance to you, I’m afraid. I have business to attend to, but it was a pleasure to meet you, Dorra.”

“Then it’s fortunate that I have no need of your assistance.” Had Link imagined it, or did she put the slightest bit of emphasis on _your?_ “It was a pleasure to meet you as well.”

Link gave Dorra a limp, sheepish wave as he followed Zelda out of the room.

The minute the doors closed behind them, Zelda let out a long breath. “I do _not_ like her.”

_I gathered,_ Link nearly said, then _I think she feels the same,_ and finally settled on, “When I met her she was a lot less...upset.”

Zelda rubbed her wrist thoughtfully as they walked. “You met her at Zora Grotto, yes? You mentioned it briefly right after you got back.”

“Yeah,” said Link. “She said she was investigating Azaren’s involvement in the attacks.”

“And yet she’s angry Hyrule is treating him like a criminal on suspicion of the exact same thing.”

Link considered this for a moment. “I think she really doesn’t want to believe it. She kept saying Azaren would never do anything like that.”

“She’s about to be very disappointed, then,” said Zelda wryly.

Link nodded. “At least we hope.”

“At least we hope,” Zelda agreed.

Several minutes later brought them to the gymnasium. The two of them so often ended up here when Link visited that he’d started keeping a practice sword and shield in one of the lockers.

“You said you had something cool to show me?” He asked Zelda as he buckled on his sword.

Zelda grinned. “Oh, do I.”

Link returned the smile involuntarily. Something in his chest loosened. Working out with Zelda seemed like the perfect way to deal with the tense conversation they’d had with Dorra.

“Okay,” said Zelda when he was fully equipped. “Let’s do this. Come at me.”

For a second he thought he hadn’t heard her right. “What? Me?”

“Yup.” One side of her mouth twitched.

“Attack you?”

“Yup.”

“But you didn’t take a weapon for yourself.”

“Yup.”

He looked down at the wooden sword in his hand. “This thing’s got a weighted core, it hurts if you get hit with it.”

Zelda smirked. “That’ll only matter if you manage to hit me, won’t it?”

Link rolled his eyes and readied his stance.

They both stood there for several seconds.

“I said come at me, didn’t I?” Zelda looked like she was trying not to laugh.

Link flushed. “I mean, I thought you would…never mind.” All right, fine, he wasn’t thrilled about having to try and stab the heir to the throne of his country, he admitted it.

But, well, she wasn’t just a princess. She was his friend.

He raised his shield and charged.

She twisted out of the way, gold light flaring from her hands. Link’s blow glanced off the shield, pushing him back a half-step. The magical kickback sent Zelda skidding backwards as well, but she’d braced herself for it. She was back in a fighting stance by the time Link had readied himself for his next attack.

She met his next strike head on, the shield shimmering in the air for a full few seconds. It was like trying to force his way through a stone wall. Link tried to step around the barrier, and it flickered out as she dodged. She was breathing hard, Link noticed. Magic must take a lot of a person.

So the thoughtful thing to do would be to end this quickly, right? He grinned, and lunged forward.

Zelda’s face was set in concentration. She jumped away, drawing her knees up as gold light flashed under her feet--and then _launched_ into the air, over his head. Link yelped, spinning around as she landed hard and stumbled into him. They both crashed to the floor.

She staggered to her feet, face red, before Link could even process what had happened. “Uh,” she said, rubbing her knee. “I’ve been having some trouble with the landings.”

Link gaped. _“How did you--”_

She leaned down and offered him a hand. “I said Impa’s been helping me with my magic…”

He took it on autopilot. His head was still reeling. “You--you jumped--that must have been ten feet!”

Zelda pulled him up, letting out a breath that was half exertion and half annoyance. “All I did was show you a really flashy way to fall flat on your face.”

“How did you do that, though? I thought you only did shields?”

She grinned at that. “Oh, I do. But putting up barriers over and over got boring after a while, so I started messing around. I’m having trouble with the kickback from the shields, and Impa had me working on my stance and all that--but I kept thinking that getting knocked around might have its uses, if I could learn to use it right.”

It was starting to click. “So you threw a shield under your feet--”

“And got pushed _upwards_ instead of backwards, yup!” Zelda’s eyes were alight with enthusiasm. “I’d never tried it while sparring before now. It’s a lot easier to stick the landing when you don’t have anything else to think about. And even then I fall over like half the time. But I think with a lot of practice this could be something really useful.”

“No _kidding!_ You can basically _fly!_ ”

“Well, more like super-jumping,” said Zelda humbly, but the smile on her face told Link that he was having the reaction she’d hoped for.

He sheathed his sword and set down his shield. “Can you try that again? Like just the jump, I won’t attack you. I wanna get a better look at it.”

Zelda nodded eagerly, taking several steps back. “Just warning you, I’ll probably fall again.”

“I promise I won’t judge you for taking a while to get the hang of being flung magically through the air,” Link teased, which got a snort out of her.

She swung her arms a few times and took a deep breath. “Okay…” She closed her eyes for a brief moment, breathed again, and jumped.

Now that Link knew what to look for, he could see that she cast the shield slightly behind her, as well as below. That made sense--it would push her diagonally instead of straight up, which was more useful for getting out of the way.

She tucked into a ball as the magic threw her into the air, twisting around to face away from Link and landing lightly in a half-crouch. Link let out the breath he’d been holding as she stood up and turned back towards him. “That is freaking _awesome._ ”

Zelda tried and failed to hide her beam. “Thanks. Wish it had gone like that the first time.”

“You’ll get the hang--whoa.” Zelda had been walking back towards him to get her water bottle, and stumbled mid-step. Link jumped forward and took her arm, steadying her.

“I’m fine. Thanks.” She slid out of his grasp. “This stuff is pretty draining if you overdo.”

He watched her for any further signs of exhaustion as she picked up her drink and downed half of it in one go. “You okay?”

She nodded. “Just a bit of a headache. It’s already passing.” Her hand shook slightly as she screwed the cap back on the bottle, which made Link strongly suspect she wasn’t being entirely truthful, but he didn’t think anything would come of pressing the issue.

“We should probably head back upstairs,” he said. “I’ve still got a ton of homework.”

Zelda’s eyebrows raised a fraction of an inch. “Alright, Mr. Star Student.”

Yeah, he should have known she’d see right through that one. This was probably his first time he’d ever suggested ending a study break in his life.

“I just need a little more practice,” said Zelda as he put the sword and shield back in his locker. “I’d feel a lot better if I already had the hang of it, but you know. These things take time.”

His hand stopped halfway through closing the locker door as something occurred to him. “Your Highness?”

“...Yeah?” She’d picked up on his hesitancy, judging by her voice.

“I’m sorry if this is too--if this is out of line, but--how worried are you that something’s going to happen next week? Something that’ll make you really need to be good at your magic?”

The question hung unanswered in the air for so long that he turned around to see what was the matter. Zelda held one wrist in her other hand, her eyes cast down in thought.

“Dad and I were talking about having you stay over the night before the trial,” she finally said. “It starts early in the morning, and the lawyers will want to talk with you again beforehand. Dad doesn’t like leaving things to chance. He doesn’t want you to be late because the train broke down or something. I agreed it was a good idea, but for a different reason.”

“Which is?” Was she avoiding the question?

She took a deep breath. “Which is, I don’t like leaving things to chance either. If Azaren tries something the day of the trial...you should be nearby.”

She shrugged on her sweatshirt, finished off her water bottle, and took a deep breath. “Okay, let’s go.”

Link followed her out of the gymnasium, thinking hard.

 

The day before the court date, Link left straight to the castle from school for last minute trial preparations. Or “his sleepover with the princess,” as Doman and Ania would not stop calling it.

Everything he was expected to say in his testimony, everything he’d gone over with the legal team, was spinning around in his mind. He hadn’t even tried to pay attention in class. He’d almost missed the train because he hadn’t noticed it pulling into the station.

_The ambush consisted of eight Gerudo women. They attacked me unprovoked. They carried military grade gauntlets, which they used against me. I know they were military grade because I was shot by one of them and experienced numbness and loss of muscle control consistent with such weapons. The scarring on my leg is also consistent with medical reports of similarly-caused injuries._

He arrived at the castle a full three hours before he even saw Zelda. A palace worker met him in the main hall and explained that the princess sent her apologies, but she would be in meetings all afternoon. Link was then brought to a room in the guest wing, where he unpacked his sword and shield and hung up the suit he was wearing to court. Aerra zipped around the room, inspecting everything with an enthusiasm he could not bring himself to share. It was an honest relief when she claimed boredom and refused to come to any meetings with him. The little fairy’s enthusiasm usually cheered him up but, well. Not today.

_I spoke with one of my attackers after fighting the rest of them off. I accused them of being royalists, and she confirmed my suspicions. She also stated that the royalists were involved in the magical attacks that have recently been carried out on Hyrulean civilians. She did not mention anything about whether Azaren himself was involved in the plan to attack me, but she spoke as if she had been sent by the royalists._

Zelda arrived in the middle of his conference with the entire legal team, greeting Link with a quick hello and distracted nod. She stayed for about half an hour, listening intently to the lawyers and taking notes in messy shorthand, arguing with them in legalese that Link could barely understand, and then hurried out again.

He didn’t see her again until dinner. The two of them waited in near-total silence for King Ersten, both understanding that today was not a small talk sort of day, before a guard arrived to inform them that his Majesty would be dining in his study.

“He’s been holeing himself up worse than ever,” said Zelda as their food was brought out. “I can’t remember the last time he got this caught up in research. He’s looking through just about every book on Hyrulean legends that we have in the castle.”

“Is it something for the trial?” Link asked.

“I can’t imagine it isn’t.” Zelda frowned slightly. “But I have no idea what.”

After dinner came a few more short meetings, and then Link was basically ordered to bed. Zelda gave him a rundown of the next morning’s schedule--breakfast in this hall, one last meeting in that hall, and then leaving for the trial--and told him to get some sleep, if he could.

Aerra was already out when he got to his room, curled up asleep on a decorative pillow at the foot of his bed. Link got in pajamas, brushed his teeth, and tried to follow suit.

Of course, he couldn’t.

_The royalist woman spoke of someone named Iduri being involved with their plans, which is the name of the woman suspected of being behind the attacks all over Hyrule. Iduri assaulted me while I was traveling from Goron City to Kakariko Village, and admitted responsibility for the attacks._

And don’t mention the obvious conclusion, that the royalists are behind all of the trouble in Hyrule, that’s not your job as a witness, let the lawyers do that--

Link groaned and rolled over in the unfamiliar bed. He had to think about something else. Anything else. He needed to sleep.

Nothing doing.

He lay there for what must have been hours, thoughts whirling around in his head, until light suddenly flared from the magiscreen on his wall. Link jumped out of bed as the “call incoming” tone began playing.

“Link, wha--” Aerra began asking sleepily.

“I don’t know,” he said. His heart was pounding so hard he could hear it. He reached out to answer the call, dimly registering that the clock on the screen’s corner read 2:21 AM.  
Zelda’s voice rushed from the screen, distorted and urgent. “Link! You have to hurry. Come to the room where we ate pancakes with Impa two weeks ago. I’ll explain there, we don’t have time--”

His brain was on instant overdrive, adrenaline roaring through his body. “Okay. What happened? Are you alright?”

“Just get down there, I’ll tell you everything in person.” He heard her draw a deep, sharp breath. And then--

“Azaren disappeared from his cell. He’s gone.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Man, it feels good to update this again! I have half of next chapter already written, so you guys should be getting more soon. Thanks for reading :)


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